Use of standardized patients to examine physicians' communication strategies when addressing vaccine refusal: a pilot study.

Vaccine refusal is increasingly reported but few direct observations of the communication between physicians and parents skeptical about vaccines have been made. In a pilot study, a standardized patient posing as an expectant mother (standardized mother, SM) opposed to immunization met with blinded community physicians under the pretext of prenatal interviews. Persuasive communication strategies were scored using a standardized questionnaire.

Tobacco cessation counseling training with standardized patients.

A pilot study was conducted to assess clinician receptivity to tobacco cessation counseling training methods using standardized patients. Additionally, the study assessed changes in clinician knowledge and behavioral intentions following the training. Medical and dental residents and dental hygiene students from the University of Louisville attended a one- to two-hour lecture addressing the counseling strategies (the Five As/the Five Rs) and pharmacotherapy recommended in the U.

Educating health professionals to respond to bioterrorism.

In September 2003, a consortium of bioterrorism and health education experts from the University of Louisville, the University of Kentucky, the Kentucky Department for Public Health, and the Louisville Metro Health Department received funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to develop a broadly based bioterrorism education program for health professionals in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the surrounding region. This grant will fund a series of presentations tailored to the needs of professionals in medicine, dentistry, public health, nursing, behavioral medicine, allied health, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, and agriculture, providing coordinated training both on site and through distance learning technology. This article outlines the major grant-funded activities envisioned for the grant years 2003 through 2005, focusing on the use of standardized patients and computerized biosimulators, the transdisciplinary partnerships of the universities involved, and the essential collaboration provided by the state and local health departments.

Development and Evaluation of a Nutrition and Physical Activity Counseling Module for First-Year Medical Students.

Introduction: Few Americans follow recommendations regarding nutrition or physical activity, and few physicians provide nutritional counseling (NC) or physical activity counseling (PAC) to patients. Clinical, systems-based, and institutional barriers to teaching and providing NC and PAC exist, but theoretical models of behavior change and principles of adult learning theory (ALT) can enable medical educators to overcome these barriers.

Methods: We developed an educational intervention consisting of interactive lectures and two standardized patient experiences to provide first-year medical students with practical experience in PAC and NC.