Evidence-based guidelines for teaching patient-centered interviewing

In a rare study of effectiveness of an interviewing method, we previously reported a randomized controlled trial demonstrating that training in a step-by-step patient-centered interviewing method improved residents' knowledge, attitudes, and skills and had a consistently positive effect on trained residents' patients. For those who wish to use this evidence-based patient-centered method as a template for their own teaching, we describe here for the first time our training program--and propose that the training can be adapted for students, physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other new learners as well. Training was skills-oriented and experiential, fostered positive attitudes towards patient-centered interviewing, and used a learner-centered approach which paid special attention to the teacher-resident relationship and to the resident's self-awareness. Skills training was guided by a newly identified patient-centered interviewing method that described the step-by-step use of specific behaviors.