Effectiveness of a minimal virtual motivational interviewing training for first years medical students: differentiating between pre-test and then-test

•Training patient-centered communication techniques not time-consuming.•Brief virtual Motivational Interviewing Training effective for first years students.•Early training raises awareness about intrinsic knowledge and skills already present.•Future educational effect-evaluations should use both a pre-test and a then-test.•The extent to which response shift differs and might be absent in some participants.