Training family practice and internal medicine residents to counsel patients who smoke: improvement and retention of counseling skills

Fam Med. 1991 Feb;23(2):108-11.

Abstract

This investigation builds on an earlier study by describing the final results of a training program that teaches internal medicine and family practice residents to counsel patients to stop smoking. In this study, 198 residents participated in a three-hour training program which included small group discussion and role-playing exercises. Videotaped observations of role-playing performances were used to assess behavioral outcomes related to counseling skills for 104 residents who completed pre-, immediate post-, and long-term follow-up testing. The present findings support previous results that show the training program has a significant positive effect on physician smoking cessation counseling skills. A subsample of residents continued to exhibit improved counseling skills one year after the initial educational interventions, suggesting that these skills can be retained over time.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

  • Counseling / methods*
  • Counseling / standards
  • Family Practice / education*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Internal Medicine / education*
  • Internship and Residency*
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Massachusetts
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Program Evaluation
  • Smoking Prevention*
  • Videotape Recording