THE USE OF CLOSED-CIRCUIT TELEVISION FOR THE TEACHING OF PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC INTERVIEWING TO MEDICAL STUDENTS

While closed-circuit television has been used in medical schools in the United States for some 12 years, its use for teaching diagnostic and psychotherapeutic interviewing to medical students has not previously been reported in Canada. The procedure involved a class of 64 students in their second year for a total of 38 hours. Concurrently with the demonstration interviews, the students were supervised in individual practice interviews with patients. The principles of psychotherapy had to be carefully related to the rest of the medical curriculum which essentially is biologically oriented. Three basic principles of health and healing were adopted because they were as applicable psychologically as physically. Evaluation of the program was undertaken by polling the students by means of a questionnaire. The general conclusion was that the use of closed-circuit television for these purposes far surpasses any other technique and has no major drawbacks.