An innovative course combining the acquisition of communication skills with first year medical student's perception of their psychosocial role in primary care

In response to the inadequate teaching of communication skills in German undergraduate medical education, a course focusing on basic communication skills as well as the role perception of students in the primary care setting was developed Up to 12 students meet in weekly sessions. In the first part of each session, theoretical aspects of rite physician-patient interaction are discussed in a sociomedical and primary cal-e context. Additionally: a reason for encounter typical for the primary care setting is introduced, e.g. headache. In the next part, a simulated patient with the aforementioned chief complaint is presented to the students. A voluntary student takes the history of the SP with an upper time limit of 15 minutes. The encounter is recorded an video-tape. Finally structured feedback is given in the form of fi-ee statements by the participants and the SP, a modified version of the MAAS-R2 rating scale, and a review of the video-tape. Results of an analysis of the students' ratings as well as satisfaction with the course show that the course is highly valued by the participating students and that it may serve as a model of teaching communication skills early in the curriculum.