Walk a mile in my shoes: a chronic illness care workshop for first-year students

A number of educators and recent medical school graduates have suggested a need to expand predoctoral training in chronic illness care. We developed a workshop to enhance first-year students' self-awareness regarding attitudes toward chronic illness care and to help them communicate effectively around patient self-care.

Students participated in a two-part workshop incorporating lectures, patient-centered interviewing role-plays, and an assignment requiring students to "have" a chronic illness and perform self-care tasks for 2 weeks. We assessed impact on chronic care knowledge by comparing pre- and post-workshop quiz scores. We also reviewed student evaluations of the experience.

Of 96 students, 86 (90%) attended Session 1, and 91 (95%) attended Session 2. The mean (standard deviation) knowledge score improved from 6.4 (1.5) before the workshop to 8.4 (1.2) after the workshop (10 points possible). Of 53 students (55%) who completed an evaluation, most perceived the value of the workshop, including the self-care assignment and role-plays. Some felt more positively about chronic illness care following the workshop, and many indicated additional chronic care training in the clinical years would be welcome.

An introductory workshop for first-year students led to increased knowledge of and improved attitudes toward chronic illness care. Longitudinal training in chronic illness care should be considered in predoctoral education.