Teaching Smoking-Cessation Counseling to Medical Students Using Simulated Patients

• Published in: American journal of preventive medicine Vol. 13; no. 3; pp. 153 - 158
• Main Authors: Eyler, A.E., Dicken, Laurie L., Fitzgerald, J.T., Oh, Mary S., Wolf, Fredric M., Zweifler, Andrew J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Inc 01-05-1997
• Subjects: Clinical Clerkship; counseling; Counseling - education; Evaluation Studies as Topic; Female; health behavior; Humans; Male; Patient Simulation; Smoking Cessation; students, medical; Students, Medical - psychology; teaching; Teaching - methods; health behavior; patient simulation; teaching; counseling; smoking cessation; students, medical
• ISSN: 0749-3797; 1873-2607
• DOI: 10.1016/S0749-3797(18)30187-9

Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of using simulated patient instructors and the Ockene method to instruct third-year medical students in smoking-cessation counseling techniques.
We used a clinical exercise with self-study preparation and simulated patient instructors.
One hundred fifty-nine students participated in a smoking-cessation counseling session in which cognitive and behavioral endpoints were assessed by simulated patient instructors and the students themselves.
Student performance in the cognitive and behavioral components of model smoking-cessation counseling was accept-Specific areas of weakness, such as the tendency of students to underemphasize the personal and social benefits of smoking cessation, and to overestimate their competence on a number of skill items, were identified. Student evaluation of the exercise was positive.
Smoking-cessation counseling can be taught effectively to third-year medical students by simulated patient instructors during a clinical clerkship.