title: Medical students on the stage: an experimental performative method for the development of relational skills.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Development of therapeutic relational skills is a relatively neglected area of medical education. Conventional teaching techniques are mostly unsuitable for the realization of experience-based learning.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To develop a training method which enables lived self-experiences of the therapeutic relationship in class. To help students understand that illness and the doctor-patient relationship are integrated in the network of life histories and other relationships.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our Integrated Performative Action Method is based on the elaboration of a short story of an illness in a student group. Through the 5 phases of the process, students write their own version of the story, build up characters, scenarios and enact the play. We have tested the method with 6 groups of students (n = 70) in a 10-week course. Video-recordings and minutes of sessions were analysed by two independent observers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Through elaborating the characters and playing the roles, students could speak about their own problems and act out feelings in the name of the characters. All groups had strong involvement throughout the process.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The method helps to experience the ways in which therapeutic relationships and professional identities are constructed, reflected upon and communicated in a group of medical students.
authors.affiliation: University of Debrecen, Hungary. csorszili@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Ilona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Csörsz
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Molnar
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Csabai
mesh_terms: D004324:Drama; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D018794:Problem-Based Learning; D011361:Professional Competence; D013337:Students, Medical; D014741:Video Recording