Interactional skills of students from traditional and non-traditional medical schools before and after alcohol education

Objective: To compare alcohol-related intervention and general interactional skills performance of medical students from a traditional (Sydney) and a non-traditional (Newcastle) medical school, before and after participation in an alcohol education programme about brief intervention. Design: In two controlled trials, students received either a didactic alcohol education programme or didactic input plus skills-based training. Prior to and after training, all students completed videotaped interviews with simulated patients. Setting: The Faculties of Medicine at the University of Newcastle and the University of Sydney, Australia. Subjects: Fifth-year medical students (n = 154). Results: Both alcohol-related intervention and general interactional skills scores of the Newcastle students were significantly higher than those of the Sydney students at pre-test but not after training. Although alcohol-related interactional skills scores improved after training at both universities, they did not reach a satisfactory level. The educational approach used had no effect on post-test scores at either university. Conclusions: Significant baseline differences in interactional skills scores favouring non-traditional over traditional students were no longer evident after both groups had been involved in an alcohol education programme. Further research is required to develop more effective alcohol intervention training methods.