A project that was designed to teach medical students how to use the medical history in collecting information relevant to the psychosocial and disease risk status of the patient was studied. A pilot curriculum designed to focus on the importance of preventive medicine and psychosocial aspects of the medical history was evaluated. Comparisons of student writeups for two successive medical school classes were conducted using a 71-item checklist; one class received the former curriculum, the other class experienced the pilot curriculum. Chi square procedures compared student performance for these two classes in relation to documentation and translation errors. Analysis of variance was used to determine the significance of differences in the mean number of documentation and translation errors between the two classes. Results of the analyses indicated statistical differences favoring the new curriculum. The students in the pilot curriculum made fewer documentation and translation errors on their writeups than did the students who received the former curriculum. Hence, the students in the new curriculum were found to be more facile in documenting patient psychosocial data and risk factors for illness.(SW)