Teaching the process of obtaining informed consent to medical students

This paper describes a unit on the informed consent process taught to 119 first-year students at the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1988-89. The unit consisted of a pretest and a posttest, a lecture, readings, small-group discussions, a model videotaped interview, and the students' videotaped interviews with one of two simulated patients. In the interviews, the students were most successful in establishing rapport and engaging the patients in discussions of treatment alternatives, and were less successful in perceiving the patients as unique individuals and in dealing with situations that involved conflict or confrontation. The authors suggest that curricula can be enhanced by focusing on the importance of patients' participation in the informed consent process.