Microteaching: a model for employee counseling education

An instructional model for the implementation and use of videotape simulation to improve dietetic students' skills in employee counseling was explored in the coordinated undergraduate program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. A five-day intensive workshop was conducted for senior students in the program, utilizing the microteaching technique. Students and actors simulated an employee counseling session on videotape; then, a small group and a clinical instructor evaluated the session. Suggestions from these evaluations were used in a repeat of the situation on videotape. A team of experts randomly viewed all the situations, judging a significant improvement in composite scores for the workshop participants. The students indicated on a Self-Perception of Confidence (SPOC) scale that they felt a higher degree of comfort in handling potential employee counseling after completing the workshop. They were pleased with the workshop and suggested expansion of the technique to other phases of their dietetic education.