Communication skills: A new strategy for training

A new five‐year course in communication skills for medical students has been developed at Nottingham Medical School in response to recommendations from the General Medical Council and a large body of research. As one foundation for this course, a multimedia CAL package was developed to aid acquisition of basic skills and associated knowledge. The CAL course uses extensive digital video for illustration, and relies heavily on interaction for learning. Evaluation of the CAL course has used a variety of methods — pre/post tests, randomized trials, and cohort comparisons. Given the investment needed to introduce learning‐technology‐based courses, initial evaluation has been encouraging and has been used to improve later versions of the material