[Communication and interaction in psychosomatic education: use of standardized patients]

An amendment to the German medical curriculum in April 2002 will place communication and social skills at the centre of medical training. In addition to providing cognitive knowledge, psychosomatic courses offer the opportunity to integrate affective learning, with a focus on communication and interaction processes. In winter term 2001/2002 a training with standardised patients was implemented and evaluated as part of the psychosomatic internship of the Department of General Internal and Psychosomatic Medicine at the Medical Hospital of the University of Heidelberg. Quantitative and qualitative results showed that training with standardised patients is well accepted and that acceptance is independent of student gender, career choice, or interests. These training units are easy to integrate into psychosomatic practical courses. The results discussed here will focus on the role and importance of various elements of medical training.