Motivational Advising Workshop: Utilizing Motivational Interviewing Theory to Facilitate and Engage Intrinsic Motivation to Change Learners' Behavior

INTRODUCTION: Motivational interviewing (MI) is a counseling method that utilizes a patient's own motivation to effect personal change. MI has been applied routinely and successfully to managing medical conditions (e.g., substance abuse). Employing MI techniques to engage medical learners (termed motivational advising [MA]) may help them overcome professional and/or personal challenges limiting their career development. METHODS: Medical educators from four academic medical centers developed a module focused on teaching fellow educators MI theory and techniques for MA using didactic and interactive components. Participants participated in facilitated role-plays to practice MA delivery techniques and observed videos of a traditional advisor-advisee interaction as well as an MA-focused engagement. A postworkshop survey was used to evaluate the workshop. RESULTS: In a survey of 48 educators attending the workshop at two medical conferences, over 80% of respondents demonstrated an interest in learning more about MA. Additionally, over 60% indicated that they would seek opportunities to practice and/or implement MA with their advisees. Knowledge of the technical components of MA also increased significantly in pre- and posttest analysis. DISCUSSION: This module introducing the concept of MA was well received by medical educators and was viewed as a valuable tool in advising medical learners. The provided components enable replication of this workshop in other settings with or without an expert in MI techniques. Although the workshop has been conducted with physicians involved in medical education, it would be applicable to other health professionals who advise trainees such as nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, or veterinary medicine.