Use of a secondary task paradigm to measure medical student’s mental workload during a simulated consultation

The mental workload of medical students was measured using a secondary task methodology with the aim of investigating whether their mental workload exceeded their mental capacity during a simulated consultation. A method previously used to measure the workload of anaesthetists during simulated anaesthesia was applied successfully. The results suggest that mental workload is likely to be a limiting factor in the performance of medical students and that under these conditions poor communication may not be due to poor communication skills.