Longitudinal investigation of changes in interviewing performance of medical students

The purposes were to determine the direction and extent of change in a medical student's ability to relate to patients between the sophomore and senior years, to assess the degree of predicted senior year performance from the sophomore year, and to determine the reliability of two major methods: interaction analysis (IA) and global faculty ratings. Twenty-two students were video-taped conducting two 10-minute interviews with a programmed patient: one as a sophomore, the other as a senior. The results for the interaction analysis method showed that the students were more directive, used more exploratory behaviors, were less supportive and more highly rated by the patients (actors) in the senior year. The physician-evaluators' global ratings indicated the students were more supportive, empathetic and open-ended, had fewer uncommon words, but conducted better overall interviews as seniors. The IA method was more reliable than global faculty ratings.