Sensitizing undergraduate medical students to consultation skills: A pilot study.

Background: Good consultation skills help physicians to diagnose the problems of the patient more accurately, and foster a therapeutic relationship. We describe a pilot study that used role-play with peers as a method to sensitize first clinical year medical students to consultation skills Methods. Students were divided into groups of three where one acted as a doctor, the second as a patient and the third as an observer. Students were asked to perform a role-play of a prepared clinical scenario where the patient had a hidden fear of malignancy. Observations were recorded in a simplified Calgary-Cambridge consultation checklist. Students' feedback and their emotions written after the role-play were analysed and discussed. Assessment of their learning was done with an objective structured clinical examination.
Results: Students' feedback revealed that they were sensitized to the importance of starting the consultation with an open question, listening to the opening statement, non-verbal.
(Copyright 2014, NMJI.)