Does the inclusion of 'professional development' teaching improve medical students' communication skills?

Background: This study investigated whether the introduction of professional development teaching in the first two years of a medical course improved students' observed communication skills with simulated patients. Students' observed communication skills were related to patient-centred attitudes, confidence in communicating with patients and performance in later clinical examinations.Methods: Eighty-two medical students from two consecutive cohorts at a UK medical school completed two videoed consultations with a simulated patient: one at the beginning of year 1 and one at the end of year 2. Group 1 (n = 35) received a traditional pre-clinical curriculum. Group 2 (n = 47) received a curriculum that included communication skills training integrated into a 'professional development' vertical module. Videoed consultations were rated using the Evans Interview Rating Scale by communication skills tutors. A subset of 27% were double-coded. Inter-rater reliability is reported.Results: Students who had received the professional development teaching achieved higher ratings for use of silence, not interrupting the patient, and keeping the discussion relevant compared to students receiving the traditional curriculum. Patient-centred attitudes were not related to observed communication. Students who were less nervous and felt they knew how to listen were rated as better communicators. Students receiving the traditional curriculum and who had been rated as better communicators when they entered medical school performed less well in the final year clinical examination.Conclusions: Students receiving the professional development training showed significant improvements in certain communication skills, but students in both cohorts improved over time. The lack of a relationship between observed communication skills and patient-centred attitudes may be a reflection of students' inexperience in working with patients, resulting in 'patient-centredness' being an abstract concept. Students in the early years of their medical course may benefit from further opportunities to practise basic communication skills on a one-to-one basis with patients

Is it possible to improve residents breaking bad news skills? A randomised study assessing the efficacy of a communication skills training program

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Enhancing medical students' communication skills: development and evaluation of an undergraduate training program

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is a relative lack of current research on the effects of specific communication training offered at the beginning of the medical degree program. The newly developed communication training "Basics and Practice in Communication Skills" was pilot tested in 2008 and expanded in the following year at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany. The goal was to promote and improve the communicative skills of participants and show the usefulness of an early offered intervention on patient-physician communication within the medical curriculum.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The students participating in the project and a comparison group of students from the standard degree program were surveyed at the beginning and end of the courses. The survey consisted of a self-assessment of their skills as well as a standardised expert rating and an evaluation of the modules by means of a questionnaire.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Students who attended the communication skills course exhibited a considerable increase of communication skills in this newly developed training. It was also observed that students in the intervention group had a greater degree of self-assessed competence following training than the medical students in the comparison group. This finding is also reflected in the results from a standardised objective measure.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The empirical results of the study showed that the training enabled students to acquire specialised competence in communication through the course of a newly developed training program. These findings will be used to establish new communication training at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf.</p

Psychosomatics in obstetrics and gynecology – evaluation of a compulsory standardized teaching program

Objective: This observational study was aimed at assessing the effect of case supervision in small groups over a two-year period as part of a standardized psychosomatic basic training for future obstetrician-gynecologists from the physicians’ perspective. Methods: The supervised groups were evaluated by questionnaires distributed to all 128 candidates at the beginning (T1), at half time (T2) and at the end of the course (T3). Aside from a validated battery of questions on self-efficacy, items included self-estimated psychosomatic competence, professional satisfaction as well as a validation of the training program. Results: The training program was associated with a significant increase of self-reported psychosomatic competence (55.0/68.9, p = 0.000) and self-efficacy (2.4/2.8, p = 0.0011). While major changes occurred at the end of the first year of the supervised groups, no further enhancement could be demonstrated throughout the second year. A total of 44 (88%) study participants who answered at T3 considered the training program as helpful. Conclusions: The presented teaching program – more precisely the supervised groups – seemed to be effective in increasing self-estimated psychosomatic competence and self-efficacy in future specialists for obstetrics and gynecology. It may serve as a model for the systematic integration of standardized psychosomatic basic training into the education of obstetrician-gynecologists