Measurement and improvement of humanistic skills in first-year trainees

The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) has recently emphasized the development of humanistic skills in trainees. Using video technology, transition outpatient visits of first-year house officers in a primary care training program were evaluated for the presence or absence of nine humanistic skills before and after the initiation of an instructional program to reinforce the skills. Thirteen videotaped PGY-1 encounters constituted the preintervention group and 16 videotaped PGY-1 encounters constituted the postintervention group. The preintervention group performed a mean of 1.38 skills while the postintervention group performed a mean of 3.56 skills, a statistically significant improvement (p less than 0.05). The authors conclude that an educational approach that focuses on specific elements of interactions facilitates the incorporation of skills associated with humane medical care.