Teaching interpersonal skills in family practice: results of a national survey

The increasing recognition of the importance of a well-developed set of interpersonal skills to the competent family physician has resulted in a rapid growth in the formal teaching of interpersonal skills within family practice residencies. Of the 168 programs responding to a national survey of family practice residencies, 88 percent indicated that they have formal programs in interpersonal skills. It is estimated that there are well over 500 family practice faculty members who have special responsibilities in teaching interpersonal skills. While most programs address the component skills of the interpersonal process (eg, demonstrating empathy, information gathering, information giving, and psychological intervention), it is of concern that only about half offer explicit training in patient education (53 percent), specific types of counseling (eg, family counseling, 55 percent), or some of the specific interpersonal skills important in team practice and practice management (eg, supervisory skills). One of the most striking findings was that 88 percent of the reporting programs use videotechnology, with 77 percent of these planning to increase their use. Although most programs evaluate their interpersonal skills training using both indirect and direct assessment methods, only 25 percent attempt to use patient outcome as a measure of teaching effectiveness.