Chinese Journal of Medical Education ›› 2026, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (8): 610-614.DOI: 10.3760/cma.j.cn115259-20250424-00465

• Standardized Residency Training • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Application of a structured interview tools-taking tool in the teaching practice of medical history collection for rheumatic diseases among residents

Cai Jianfei1, Sun Qinlong1, Bao Huafang1, Wang Ling 2   

  1. 1Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Huadong Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China;
    2Institute of Medical Education, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
  • Received:2025-04-24 Published:2026-07-29
  • Contact: Wang Ling, Email: lingwang@fudan.edu.cn

Abstract: Objective To explore the value of structured history-taking tools in teaching history-taking for rheumatic diseases during residency training. Methods A controlled trial was conducted. A total of 96 residents rotating through the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology at Huadong Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University from August 2022 to December 2024 were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n=48) or the control group (n=48) by random number table method. The experimental group received a structured history-taking tool designed based on the diagnostic pathways of 14 domestic authoritative guidelines for rheumatic diseases, covering five dimensions: present illness, past medical history, personal history, marital and reproductive history, and family history, with small-class teaching (two residents per class) combined with real clinical cases. The control group received traditional history-taking instruction. The learning curves of history-taking completeness scores of residents in both groups were used as the primary outcome to evaluate teaching effectiveness. Linear mixed-effects models were employed to analyze the changes in the learning curves between the two groups. Results A total of 26 history-taking completeness assessments were completed by residents in both groups. Statistical analysis revealed a statistically significant interaction effect between teaching group and training cycle (χ2=643.778, df=4, P<0.001). The learning rate parameter k was higher in the experimental group than in the control group (0.187 vs. 0.120), and the experimental group reached the 80-point proficiency threshold approximately 8 training cycles earlier than the control group. Conclusions The structured history-taking tool helps to improve the learning curve of history-taking, providing a referable paradigm for clinical specialties that rely on classification-based diagnosis, such as rheumatic diseases.

Key words: Rheumatology, Structured interview tools, Residents, Disease history collection

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