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. 2020 Mar 20:11:221.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00221. eCollection 2020.

Single-Day Simulation-Based Training Improves Communication and Psychiatric Skills of Medical Students

Doron Amsalem  1   2   3 , Doron Gothelf  1   3   4 , Omer Soul  1   2 , Alexandra Dorman  4 , Amitai Ziv  2   3   5 , Raz Gross  2   6
Affiliations

Single-Day Simulation-Based Training Improves Communication and Psychiatric Skills of Medical Students

Doron Amsalem et al. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Use of standardized (or simulated) patients (SP) is considered an effective teaching method for improving clinical and communication skills. This study assesses the effect of a single-day simulated patients (SP)-based training course on medical students' communication and basic skills in clinical psychiatry during their psychiatry rotation in a university-affiliated tertiary medical center.

Methods: Forty-two third-year medical students participated. Communication and basic skills in clinical psychiatry were evaluated by a modified Four Habits Coding Scale (4HCS) and the psychiatric interview coding scale before and after SP training. An actual patient interview by the students 1 week after the training was evaluated by an attending psychiatrist blinded to the student's score during the SP-based training. Self-report questionnaires on satisfaction from the training and its impact on their self-confidence were administered at the end of training.

Findings: The mean pre-training 4HCS score of 33.9 increased to 52.3 post-training (p < 0.001). The mean psychiatric interview coding scale score increased from 4.33 to 5.36 (p = 0.002). The self-report questionnaire yielded a mean score of 4.21 on a 1-5 Likert scale, implying high levels of satisfaction and self-confidence.

Conclusions: A single SP-based training course of medical students sufficed to improve clinical and communication skills in psychiatric settings and enhance their subjective perception of those skills.

Keywords: medical education; medical students; psychiatry rotation; simulation; stigma.

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