History-taking for medical students. II-Evaluation of a training programme.

Two experiments designed to evaluate a programme for training medical students in history-taking skills were carried out. Results of the first indicate that students who underwent the programme reported almost three times as much relevant and accurate information after a test interview as those who received only traditional training. Results of the second experiment suggest that most of the programme's effect is attributable to discussion of a printed handout which presents the student with a detailed scheme for taking histories.