The Journal of Medical Education and Development

Introduction: Taking patients' history and doing physical examinations help physicians to diagnose correctly and treat accordingly. There are several factors which may affect the quality of taking patients' history. This study aims to assess determinants of taking patients' history from the viewpoint of the students of Birjand Medical School.

Methods: This descriptive study was carried out in 2010-2011 on all 137 medical trainees and interns studying at Birjand Medical School. To determine the students’ attitudes towards history taking and to evaluate their performance a questionnaire and a check-list were used, respectively. The data analyzed using SPSS software. Descriptive-deductive statistics (T-test) were applied on the data.

Results: The average score of the motivational factors was more than the preventive factors. Among the motivational factors, the statement “taking patient history is a basis of proper diagnosis and treatment” (3.58) and among the preventive factors the statement “taking patient history just to evade responsibility”(2.57)had the highest scores. Moreover, there was a significant difference between the performance of trainees and interns in taking and recording patients’ history (P<0.005).

Conclusion: Although the students held a positive attitude toward taking patients' history, they didn’t have satisfactory performance in recording disease symptoms, diagnosis and treatment plans this entails more attention. Observation of trainers on the process of history taking may help.