Assessing the training needs of medical students in patient information gathering

Abstract

Background: Effective communication is at the heart of good medical practice but rates of error, patient complaints, and poor clinician job satisfaction are suggestive of room for improvement in this component of medical practice and education. Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with experienced clinicians (n = 19) and medical students (n = 20) to explore their experiences associated with teaching and learning clinical communication skills and identify targets for improvements to addressing these skills in medical curricula. Results: Interviews were thematically analysed and four key themes emerged; the importance of experience, the value of role-models, the structure of a consultation, and confidence. Conclusions: The findings reinforce the need for improvement in teaching and learning communication skills in medicine, with particular opportunity to target approaches to teaching foundational skills which can establish a strong grounding before moving into more complex situations, thus preparing students for the flexibility required in medical interviewing. A second area of opportunity and need is in the engagement and training of clinicians as mentors and teachers, with the findings from both groups indicating that preparation for teaching and feedback is lacking. Medical programs can improve their teaching of communication skills and could learn from other fields s to identify applicable innovative approaches.

Which teaching method is more effective in a communication course – role-playing versus simulated patients, taught by tutors or faculty staff? A randomized trial

“…Conducting interviews with SP was more popular than role-playing, a finding similar to that of Gilligan et al [ 27 ], who also saw a desire for more role-playing expressed by only a small percentage of students.…”

The role of mentoring, supervision, coaching, teaching and instruction on professional identity formation: a systematic scoping review

“…A majority of articles only stated the outcomes of the mentoring umbrella without addressing mechanisms via which they exert their influence [ 65 – 69 , 71 , 74 , 75 , 86 , 93 , 94 , 97 , 100 , 109 , 118 , 123 , 130 , 149 , 150 , 177 , 182 ]. Given how mechanism papers formed the minority, there were concerns that non-mechanism papers would bias the data.…”

Maintaining patient-centredness in Australian medical students: Culture, curriculum and selection criteria

“…Students are placed with clinician tutors in PBL groups in the initial 2 years and one-on-one clinical attachments with senior clinicians in years three and four, when students rotate through public and private clinical settings. It has been suggested that positive role modelling is a key technique in teaching patient-centred attitudes (Branch et al, 2001;Gilligan et al, 2020). Through interviews with clinicians and medical students, Gilligan et al (2020) highlighted the need for "mentors or rolemodels in clinical settings who can model patient-centred communication approaches and provide feedback to students on their own consultations with patients" (p. 7).…”

“…It has been suggested that positive role modelling is a key technique in teaching patient-centred attitudes (Branch et al, 2001;Gilligan et al, 2020). Through interviews with clinicians and medical students, Gilligan et al (2020) highlighted the need for "mentors or rolemodels in clinical settings who can model patient-centred communication approaches and provide feedback to students on their own consultations with patients" (p. 7).…”