[The patient-centered interview and the way it is taught. What do family physicians who have recently received their degree think?].

OBJECTIVE

To describe how family physicians perceive the patient-centred interview (PCI) and the way in which it is taught during residency training. DESIGN: Mailed survey. SETTING: Family physicians from a variety of practice settings in Quebec. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety-one family physicians who graduated from Laval University between 1996 and 1998. METHOD: Survey was conducted in 1999 using the modified Dillman method. The original questionnaire had mainly open-ended questions on perception of the PCI and learning activities associated with it during residency training. All qualitative data were subject to content analysis using triangulation strategies. MAIN FINDINGS: A PCI mainly involves exploring patients' experience of their illnesses; this helps physicians to better understand patients. Patients are more content with this type of interview and are, therefore, more likely to follow physicians' recommendations. Respondents reported the main drawback to be longer interview times; this was particularly true for emergency and walk-in care. The most useful learning activities during residency were reported to be supervision by direct observation and observation of supervisor-patient consultations. CONCLUSION: Patient-centred interviews enabled physicians to understand and help their patients better. Results of this study can help teachers who are developing and consolidating activities to teach residents how to conduct PCIs and how to integrate them into practice.