SummaryInterpreters play an important role in the criminal justice system, yet little is known about the way interpreters are used. This survey of U.S. law enforcement (N = 299) assessed practices and perceptions regarding interpreter use during interviews with nonnative English speakers. Investigators reported using colleagues more often than professional interpreters, using interpreters more often with suspects and in certain crimes (e.g., domestic violence), and that interpreters are usually at least partially informed about case facts prior to translating. Investigators responded to experimental vignettes, and results indicated they were more likely to seek and obtain interpreters when an interviewee has lived in the United States for fewer years; however, the language spoken and the interviewee's role (e.g., witness vs. suspect) did not affect decisions to request an interpreter. Several avenues for future experimental research are identified and discussed, including interpreting over the phone and interpreter susceptibility to biases.

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Local Mentor: Colleen K. Stockdale, MD, MS APGO Advisor: Hope Ricciotti, MD OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the effect of differing sexual history communication curricula as assessed by a standardized performance examination administered at the end of the Obstetrics and Gynecology clerkship. Differences in specific types of communication skills were considered based on varied training in sexual history-taking as experienced by medical students. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study examined “naturally occurring” comparison groups of medical students resulting from curricular changes in sexual history communication training over time. The curricular changes were hypothesized to positively affect practice based assessment (PBA) scores. Other variables considered were medical student sex and year. Outcome measures included items regarding clinical history, physical exam, communication skills and final diagnosis related to sexual history communication curriculum experienced. Group means and paired t-tests were performed for individual variables as well as several composite variables. RESULTS: Nine hundred and nine (n = 909) PBA scores were analyzed. Post-hoc power analysis defined minimum group size to be 45, which was exceeded. There was no relationship, positive or negative, between sexual history communication curricula with any outcome measure. Females performed significantly better on the PBA overall (P<.0001) and on several individual communication measures on the PBA checklist (range P 0.0003–0.02). Students who received “double” sexual history communication training compared to those who received “single” or no training showed no difference on any outcome measure (P 0.06). CONCLUSION: There appears to be minimal correlation of differing sexual history communication curricula with individual or composite communication skill scores as evaluated with a standardized performance examination administered at the end of the Obstetrics and Gynecology clerkship.

Purpose: To describe the frequency at which students are refused from patient care, and to evaluate the impact of interventions designed to reduce medical student refusal. Background: Medical student refusal from patient care is perceived to be a common problem during the Ob-Gyn clerkship at the University of Iowa. Review of the literature shows that medical student refusal is common in a variety of clerkships1-4. Few studies have evaluated interventions to reduce the rate of refusal.