Assessing counseling skills and attitudes in family practice residents

This is the second of two papers describing portions of the behavioral science orientation curriculum that focuses on assessing changes in counseling skills and attitudes in Charleston family practice residents. The measurement of counseling skills and attitudes is accomplished through a 38-item multiple choice instrument. The basic types of items composing the instrument are delineated. Pre and post-testing data are presented over a five-year period, 1973-1977. Three-year follow-up data are presented for the residency class entering in 1975. These data are discussed from two perspectives: (1) their function in teaching physician awareness of counseling style, and (2) their function in assessing changes in physician counseling profiles.