The effectiveness of a first-year clinical preceptorship on the data collection and communication skills of second-year medical students.
BACKGROUND
Evidence suggests that effective physician communication strongly correlates with patient satisfaction and treatment outcome. Unfortunately, teaching these skills has been challenging because of 2 major barriers: (a) medical students are often too preoccupied with the technical and scientific aspects of their curriculum, and (b) it is difficult to expand curricular time.


METHODS
To overcome these barriers, an educational intervention that has not required additional classroom time was implemented. This first-year preceptorship focused on improving data gathering and interpersonal/communication skills.


RESULTS
Analysis of the data for the 2 test groups revealed that interpersonal and communication skills were modestly higher in the preceptorship group. There was no significant difference in data collection in each of the two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Combining formal communication skills instruction with an early clinical experience may prove to be the most effective approach to improving interpersonal, communication, and data gathering skills.
Filipetto
Frank A
FA
Department of Family Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, 08084, USA. FilipeFA@umdnj.edu
Weiss
Lucia Beck
LB
Switala
Claudia A
CA
Bertagnolli
John F
JF
D003142:Communication; D003625:Data Collection; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011231:Preceptorship; D015397:Program Evaluation; D013337:Students, Medical