Teaching referral skills to medical students

BACKGROUND: Referrals are an important and frequent part of a junior doctor’s work. Difficulty with making successful referrals is also very common. Despite this, training in referral skills is not routinely carried out in medical schools. RESULTS: We designed and delivered a 1-h interactive lecture to final year medical students to teach referral skills. The lecture was delivered on six occasions to up to 70 students at each session. 191 students attended and provided evaluation. 68 % of students had no previous training in referral skills and 99 % felt that referral skills should be included in the undergraduate curriculum. 90 % reported that the lecture had improved their understanding of referral techniques and 83 and 80 % felt that the lecture had improved their ability and confidence, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Referral skills can be successfully taught in a large group lecture setting. We recommend that the teaching of referral skills is incorporated into all medical schools’ curricula.