The effects of teaching clinical clerks psychotherapy skills in the outpatient department.

We have described a psychiatric clerkship which is highlighted by a clinical exposure for the students to the practice of psychodynamic psychotherapy on relatively well-functioning outpatients. Students assigned this rotation are shown to opt for psychiatry significantly more often and rate the educational experience as significantly more positive when compared to psychiatry clerks other teaching hospitals which do not emphasize this clinical experience in outpatient psychotherapy. In addition, students undergoing this type of clerkship are shown to significantly improve in their ability to the histories and interact with medically ill patients, suggesting a further beneficial effect of the experience in conducting psychotherapy during the clerkship.