Effects of LifeSkills Training on Medical Students’ Performance in Dealing with Complex Clinical Cases

• Published in: Academic psychiatry Vol. 32; no. 3; pp. 188 - 193
• Main Authors: Campo, Ana E., Williams, Virginia, Williams, Redford B., Segundo, Marisol A., Lydston, David, Weiss, Stephen M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer-Verlag 01.05.2008; American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aggression; Aggression - psychology; Anger; Behavior Modification; Clinical Competence - standards; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive Restructuring; Cognitive Therapy - methods; Communication Skills; Curriculum - standards; Cynicism; Data Analysis; Decision making; Decision Making Skills; Education - methods; Education, Medical - methods; Educational Experience; Experimental Groups; Hostility; Humans; Individual Characteristics; Interpersonal Competence; Interpersonal Relations; Intervention; Judgment; Learning Modules; Medical Education; Medical Evaluation; Medical Students; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Negative Attitudes; Original Article; Patients; Personality; Personality Assessment; Personality Disorders - diagnosis; Personality Disorders - psychology; Personality Disorders - therapy; Personality traits; Physical Health; Physicians; Psychiatry; Psychological Characteristics; Psychological Patterns; Psychotherapy, Group - methods; Questionnaires; Randomized Controlled Trials; Social Adjustment; Students, Medical - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teaching; Treatment Outcome; Vignettes; Academic Psychiatry; Sound Clinical Judgment; Hostility Score; Medical Student; Clinical Vignette
• ISSN: 1042-9670; 1545-7230
• DOI: 10.1176/appi.ap.32.3.188

Objective Sound clinical judgment is the cornerstone of medical practice and begins early during medical education. The authors consider the effect of personality characteristics (hostility, anger cynicism) on clinical judgment and whether a briefintervention can affect this process. Methods Two sophomore medical classes (experimental, comparison) were assessed on several personality dimensions and responded to a series of clinical vignettes. The experimental group received cognitive behavior training to improve stress, coping, and interpersonal skills. Participants were reassessed within 1 week of the initial assessment. Results Significant associations between hostility and cynicism and maladaptive responses to the clinical vignettes were noted. Following the intervention, hostility, cynicism, anger, and aggression were significantly reduced, with concomitant reductions in maladaptive decision-making. Conclusion The relationship between the quality of clinical decision-making and personality characteristics was confirmed. The potential to modify this relationship using a brief cognitive behavior intervention suggests that such interventions should be an essential component of medical education.