Advanced Interviewing Skills
TITLE: Advanced Interviewing Skills
COURSE NO: SOMN 642
DEPARTMENT: Neurosciences and Psychiatry
DURATION: Semester
DIRECTORS: Robert Smith, MD, PhD
SEMESTERS AVAILABLE: Spring (M1 Students)
NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 10 total slots.
LOCATION: Hybrid in person/virtual
COORDINATOR: Jessica Weigle
FACULTY: Robert Smith, MD, PhD, Emily Cooper, MD
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
This course is designed to help medical students improve their patient interviewing skills. These skills will be taught through the lens of psychiatry but will serve students in any medical career as they can apply these skills to all patient interviews. Using didactic sessions, workshops, and group sessions, participants will learn elements of patient interviewing including vocabulary, principles of psychotherapy, as well as skills and tools for applying these techniques during patient interviews. Students will observe patient interviews and evaluate the use of psychotherapy techniques in these interviews.
The time commitment for this elective includes eight sessions (~two hours each) including didactics and workshops to be scheduled around existing obligations such as exams and quizzes. There will be no required work outside of class sessions.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
At the conclusion of this M1 elective, students should be able to:
- Explain the fundamentals of psychodynamic therapy. (EPOs: PC1, PC9, MK7)
- Recognize the use of psychotherapy techniques in observed patient interviews and identify the techniques which may be best for a given patient. (EPOs: PC1, MK7)
- Discuss the implementation of interview skills in observed patient interviews in terms of their effect on the interview. (EPOs: PC1, MK7)
METHODS OF TEACHING: lecture, small groups, large groups
METHODS OF ASSESSMENT AND STUDENT FEEDBACK: Students will discuss the elements of psychotherapeutic approaches in the context of observed patient interviews. Students will write a brief report comparing the application of these skills between individual patients in separate observed interviews, demonstrating an understanding of applying broad concepts to unique patient interactions. Students will also complete an evaluation of the elective after the course concludes.
PREREQUISITES: None.
UNIVERSITY POLICIES
Institutional Classroom Attendance Policy
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Policy Statement on Non‐Discrimination on the Basis of Disability (ADA)
The University is an equal opportunity educational institution. Please read The University’s Policy Statement on Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability Americans with Disability Act Compliance. Students can find this policy along with other university policies listed by audience on the University Policy webpage.
Academic Accommodations
The University of Toledo embraces the inclusion of students with disabilities. We are committed to ensuring equal opportunity and seamless access for full participation in all courses. For students who have an Accommodations Memo from the Office of Accessibility and Disability Resources, I invite you to correspond with me as soon as possible so that we can communicate confidentially about implementing accommodations in this course.
For students who have not established accommodations with the Office of Accessibility and Disability Resources and are experiencing disability access barriers or are interested in a referral to health care resources for a potential disability, please connect with the office by calling 419.530.4981 or sending an email to StudentDisability@utoledo.edu.
Religious Accommodations
A student is permitted to be absent, without penalty, for up to three days each academic semester to take holidays for reasons of faith or religious or spiritual belief system or to participate in organized activities conducted under the auspices of a religious denomination church, or other religious or spiritual organization. 3364-71-30 Religious accommodations policy and 3364-71-30.01 Religious accommodations procedure.
Grievance procedure: A student may notify the institution of any grievance regarding the policy’s implementation using the 3364-71-05.1 Academic grievance procedure.
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ECC Approved
December 2025