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Dennis H. Novack, MD
Rhode Island Hospital Providence

Gretchen Volk
University of Rochester (NY) School of Medicine and Dentistry

Douglas A. Drossman, MD
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Mack Lipkin, Jr, MD
New York (NY) University Medical Center

JAMA. 1993;270(11):1320.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

In Reply.

—We appreciate Dr Phillips' comments. We agree that the teaching and assessment of IPS require precise definition. Our survey data suggest that a minority of US medical school courses consistently define skills: one third of introductory courses use a standardized interview evaluation tool; 20% of course directors ranked "behaviorally defined skills to be taught" as one of the top four educational principles used in their courses. Lack of clarity and agreement on the nature of skills to be taught and lack of formal assessment can lead to ineffective learning. It would certainly be useful to have more extensive data on the variety of skills taught and the nature of the teaching experiences. Our preliminary data suggest, though, that many medical schools could substantially improve their IPS education.

While there are many nuances in effective teaching, general educational principles guide instruction in a variety of IPS.¹ Furthermore, the . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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