LAUSR

BACKGROUND Shifting towards patient-centeredness, medical doctors need patient-centered communication skills. Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based, collaborative, goal-oriented communication technique to strengthen a person's own motivation and commitment to change. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief virtual role-play MI-training program on MI-knowledge and skills in first-year undergraduate medical students, making use of both a pre-test and a then-test (retrospective pre-test) to check for response shift in evaluating the educational intervention. METHODS Four 10-15 min MI-game-based training conversations embedded in the Kognito Conversation Platform™ were offered to the students using a single-group Interrupted Time Series design. RESULTS Participants included 339 undergraduate medical students (RR= 83.1%). The one-hour MI virtual training proved effective in two ways: participants gained knowledge and skills, and increased awareness of the existing intrinsic knowledge and skill they already possess to communicate with future patients in a patient-centered way. CONCLUSION A brief one-hour MI-training simulation can be effective even if offered at an early stage during medical education. Furthermore, response shift varied and was not present in all students. PRACTICE IMPLICATION The addition of a then-test to the study design reveals results that otherwise would not have been found.