Use of video tape in teaching psychological medicine

Video tapes have been used extensively in medical education and especially in training for family practice. This article describes the use of video-tape equipment in rural health centers at the Rockford School of Medicine, University of Illinois, College of Medicine. The video camera was incorporated into clinical transaction by having it operated by a psychiatrist-preceptor in the presence of the patient. This method makes available an intimate glimpse of the clinical situation, less disturbed by intrusive gadetry than has heretofore been possible. Patients seem mostly unaffected by the taping, so long as clinical personnal sanction it, and the function is firmly placed within the supportive bounds of the doctor-patient relationship.