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In order to share the issues involved in setting up a communication skills training programme in a medical school, the development of such a programme at the Skillslab of Maastricht Medical School, the Netherlands, is described and the problems encountered are addressed. A multidisciplinary working group developed teaching goals for communication skills, focused on observable behaviour to be displayed by students. These teaching goals were incorporated in a generic model for doctor-patient communication. A longitudinal training programme was created, throughout the four years of the preclinical curriculum. Students meet in small groups of 10, once every 2 weeks. In between group sessions they practise consultation skills in simulated patient contacts. Communication skills are assessed in the annual multiple station examination. In the development of this programme the following consecutive actions were taken: teaching material was produced, and an assessment tool was developed, as were instruments for programme evaluation. The programme evaluation allowed student feedback to teachers, the teachers' departments, and the administration of the medical school. Finally, teacher training was professionalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Split root experiments have the potential to disentangle water transport in roots and soil, enabling the investigation of the water uptake pattern of a root system. Interpretation of the experimental data assumes that water flow between the split soil compartments does not occur. Another approach to investigate root water uptake is by numerical simulations combining soil and root water flow depending on the parameterization and description of the root system. Our aim is to demonstrate the synergisms that emerge from combining split root experiments with simulations. We show how growing root architectures derived from temporally repeated X-ray CT scanning can be implemented in numerical soil-plant models. Faba beans were grown with and without split layers and exposed to a single drought period during which plant and soil water status were measured. Root architectures were reconstructed from CT scans and used in the model R-SWMS (root-soil water movement and solute transport) to simulate water potentials in soil and roots in 3D as well as water uptake by growing roots in different depths. CT scans revealed that root development was considerably lower with split layers compared to without. This coincided with a reduction of transpiration, stomatal conductance and shoot growth. Simulated predawn water potentials were lower in the presence of split layers. Simulations showed that this was related to an increased resistance to vertical water flow in the soil by the split layers. Comparison between measured and simulated soil water potentials proved that the split layers were not perfectly isolating and that redistribution of water from the lower, wetter compartments to the drier upper compartments took place, thus water losses were not equal to the root water uptake from those compartments. Still, the layers increased the resistance to vertical flow which resulted in lower simulated collar water potentials that led to reduced stomatal conductance and growth.