Impact of Student vs Faculty Facilitators on Motivational Interviewing Student Outcomes.

Objective. To determine the impact of student or faculty facilitation on student self-assessed attitudes, confidence, and competence in motivational interviewing (MI) skills; actual competence; and evaluation of facilitator performance.Methods. Second-year pharmacy (P2) students were randomly assigned to a student or faculty facilitator for a four-hour, small-group practice of MI skills. MI skills were assessed in a simulated patient encounter with the mMITI (modified Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity) tool. Students completed a pre-post, 6-point, Likert-type assessment addressing the research objectives. Differences were assessed using a Mann-Whitney U test.Results. Student (N=44) post-test attitudes, confidence, perceived or actual competence, and evaluations of facilitator performance were not different for faculty- and student-facilitated groups.Conclusion. Using pharmacy students as small-group facilitators did not affect student performance and were viewed as equally favorable. Using pha...