Training medical students to manage a chronic pain patient: both knowledge and communication skills are needed

Most studies concerning pain education of undergraduate medical students focus on knowledge, but little is known about the interviewing skills and pain evaluation. At the end of the fifth study year and at the beginning of the sixth year the students were asked to answer an electronical questionnaire to evaluate how the IASP curriculum on pain had been covered during the studies. In addition, the interviewing skills of the fifth year medical students were assessed using an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). The students met a standardized patient suffering from postherpetic neuralgia, who was instructed to express depressive and exhausted feelings. A total of 97 students received the questionnaire and 35% responded with identification. All students answering the IASP questionnaire evaluated teaching of postherpetic pain and antidepressant treatment as sufficient. OSCE appeared as a feasible instrument in the assessment of chronic pain education. Eighty-eight percent of the students made the correct diagnosis. However, only 35% asked about sleep disturbances and 16% about depression. When developing a curriculum on pain education, attention should be paid to pedagogic methods about helping the students to implement the learned knowledge in their practice. Formative assessment of both knowledge and skills is essential for the development of a functional pain curriculum.