Housestaff social history knowledge. Correlation with evaluation of interpersonal skills

It was hypothesized that internal medicine housestaff who inquire into their hospital patients' social histories would be rated by nurses and attendings as having better interpersonal skills. Thirty-seven internal medicine housestaff were asked to answer a questionnaire regarding the social history of up to three of their hospital patients. The score on these questionnaires was then compared to evaluations by nurses and attendings of housestaffs' interpersonal skills. We found that nurses' evaluations of housestaff interpersonal skills correlated with performance on the social history questionnaire, while attendings' evaluations did not. Social history inquiry by housestaff may be a marker for housestaff humanistic and interpersonal skills.