Patient management by telephone: a training exercise for medical students.

An instructional exercise in telephone management of medical problems using experimental and didactic techniques was designed for medical students taking a family medicine clerkship. The effectiveness of this curriculum was evaluated by comparing the students' proficiency against a standard established through the use of a Delphi group opinion technique. This study indicates that formal training experiences for medical students in managing telephone complaints in a family practice setting can improve the students' performance.