Clinical hypocompetence: the interview.

In observing more than 300 clinical interviews, we have seen a high frequency of physician-engendered defects. Most of the defective examples can be classified as one or a combination of five syndromes: the therapeutic lack; inattention to primary data (symptoms); a high control style; an incomplete data base usually omitting patient-centered data and active problems other than the present illness; and a thoughtless interview in which the physician fails to formulate needed working hypotheses. Proper diagnosis of these defects allows for better prescription of educational correction.