Improving the psychiatric skills of the general practice trainee: an evaluation of a group training course

Fourteen general practice trainees took part in a course specifically designed to improve their psychiatric interviewing skills. The trainees were instructed in the problem-based model and were taught in a group setting with the use of videotape feedback. A significant improvement was demonstrated in the trainees' ability to identify psychiatric illness accurately, and there were significant changes in their interview behaviours after training. Those who were below average before training showed the greatest improvement. The implications of these findings are discussed. Group video feedback training is as effective as one-to-one video feedback training in improving the psychiatric interviewing skills of GP trainees, and could be more widely employed in general practice vocational training.