Sensitizing undergraduate medical students to consultation skills: A pilot study

Good consultation skills help physicians to diagnose the problems of the patient more accurately, and foster a therapeutic relationship. We describe a pilot study that used role-play with peers as a method to sensitize first clinical year medical students to consultation skills Methods. Students were divided into groups of three where one acted as a doctor, the second as a patient and the third as an observer. Students were asked to perform a role-play of a prepared clinical scenario where the patient had a hidden fear of malignancy. Observations were recorded in a simplified Calgary-Cambridge consultation checklist. Students' feedback and their emotions written after the role-play were analysed and discussed. Assessment of their learning was done with an objective structured clinical examination.

Students' feedback revealed that they were sensitized to the importance of starting the consultation with an open question, listening to the opening statement, non-verbal.