Teaching and learning about sexual histories during undergraduate medical education: a comparison of two approaches

Experiential small group workshops on taking a sexual history were introduc ed at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM). With the introduction of a new curriculum and an increase in the number of students, together with a growing awareness of economic constraints in medical education, a large gr oup session on the same topic was developed. In both sessions students iden tify barriers to taking a sexual history, contexts in which a sexual histor y is appropriate and skills necessary for an effective sexual history inter view. This paper describes and contrasts the content, methodology and stude nt evaluations of both types of sessions. The results showed that in the sh ort term students perceived benefits from both methods of teaching. Further work is required to determine the long-term effects of such training.