Teaching patient-centered tobacco intervention to first-year medical students

The University of Wisconsin's Tobacco Intervention Basic Skills curriculum (TIBS) was inaugurated to begin training 147 first-year medical students in skills for promoting health behavior change. Learning activities included lecture, demonstration, reading, quiz, role-play exercises, and standardized patient interviews. After TIBS, the 69 students who provided pre- and postintervention data exhibited more therapeutic attitudes and increased knowledge and self-confidence in applying TIBS skills. Two months later, 52% of the 109 posttest respondents had applied TIBS in clinical settings, often for behaviors other than tobacco use. We conclude that medical students can gain from early training on promoting behavior change.