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Acquisition of clinical skills

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

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“No-one except you and the patient really know what happens when you take him for an interview. You learn from your own mistakes behind the closed door” (Adams & Cook, 1984).

Clinical skills in psychiatry are not best acquired in unsupervised practice or in learning by apprenticeship. In the past, it was reported that during the course of their clinical training, students' interviewing skills actually deteriorated rather than improved (Helfer, 1970; Maguire & Rutter, 1976), although recent research suggests that improved training is now having an impact (Davis & Nicholaou, 1992). The methods described below may be employed at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Traditionally, psychiatrists have been actively involved, along with general practitioners, in the provision of communication skills training to undergraduates. In the future, this training will become a continuous process carried out alongside and within other teaching in all specialities (Gushing, 1996). One of the biggest challenges facing medical schools is how to engage and train clinical teachers from a range of specialities in facilitating students in the acquisition of clinical interpersonal skills.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 1999 

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