The aim of the current study was to investigate the effectiveness of a
five-day communication skills training course held during the second
year of a six-year medical program. The 26 students (10 male, 16 femal
e) who completed the 1994 course were videotaped interviewing matched
simulated patients before and after training. Communication experts bl
indly rated the film segments in terms of global performance and six s
pecified component interview skids using a 10-point scale (0 'skill no
t used', 1 'poor', 5 'pass' [skill acceptable for a graduate doctor],
9 'excellent'). All facets were significantly improved after Graining
(t, p < 0.05). Judges were more often concordant (rs, p<0.05) when rat
ing pre-training performances. Ability to establish rapport was the be
st predictor of skill in other components. Neither pre-training perfor
mance, English grade nor overall academic performance for the year was
predictive of post-training performance.