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The Problem of Teaching Psychological Attitudes to Medical Students. Eleanor A. Steele. Pp. 59–64.
The principle of self-analysis as a valuable preliminary to the understanding of others is applied to the teaching of psychiatry to medical students in two interesting studies. Warson, at the Washington University School of Medicine, reports the superior effectiveness of teaching methods in which the student-teacher relationship evolved along the lines of group therapy. 'The approach of the teacher to the underlying anxiety in the students was the same as that advocated for the students to use with their patients. This gave the students an opportunity for an emotional experience which could be translated in terms of the relationship of the patients to them. The transfer of the attitudes of the teacher to the student is one of the goals of teaching, and was accomplished in this manner.' Warson stresses the special orientation and training required of the teacher in such a situation.
Steele, at Temple University, laid particular stress on autobiographical reports in conjunction with the study of dynamic mechanisms which were under discussion. The students were encouraged to investigate their own conflicts and defense mechanisms (such as tendencies to project) as an aid to an understanding of patients. Steele's results were encouraging. Seventy-five percent of the students reacted favorably; negative reactions are also discussed.