Clinical Communication Skills at the Professional Level

• Type: Article in International Conference Proceedings Book
• Date: 2008

Authors

VG Pais (Author) FMUP; IP Carvalho (Author) FMUP; RR Silva (Author) FMUP; I Castro-Vale (Author) FMUP; A Teles (Author) FMUP; M Figueiredo (Author) FMUP; S Almeida (Author) FMUP; R Mota Cardoso (Author) FMUP

Conference proceedings International

Title: Each - European Association for Communication in Healthcare

International Conference Communication in Healthcare

Oslo, Setembro de 2008

Other information

Abstract (EN): Several studies point out the importance of communication skills on the quality of information obtained during a medical interview, on treatment outcomes, patient satisfaction, legal complaints against doctors and many others measures. Even though undergraduate programs may include communication skills in their courses, professionals with clinical practice often feel at a loss in this domain in their daily work. Recognizing the need for advanced education on communication in professional clinical settings, the Department of Medical Psychology of the School of Medicine, University of Porto, started a program on communication skills at the graduate level based on the Department’s experience with medical students and on literature review. This is the first program in this area for professionals with health care degrees in Portugal, and its description and preliminary results are the aim of the current paper. The program has the duration of one year and consists of twelve modules that cover the following topics successively: basic communication skills in patient-centred interviews and in doctor-centred interviews, and communication skills in special situations, such as breaking bad news, dealing with anxious and depressed patients, doctor–family relationship, doctor-child/adolescent relationship and geriatric doctor-patient relationship. Typically, each module starts with a theoretical presentation on that day’s topic, but emphasis is placed on practical training through role-playing, interviews with trained actors, and interviews with real patients. Each module, the whole program, tutors and students are all evaluated through a variety of instruments that include: multiple-choice tests, check lists on the skills to be learned, ICSC, SEGUE and Confidence. The first phase of evaluation has been completed and compares students’ performances at Time 0 (in a clinical interview before taking the course) and Time 1 (in a clinical interview after having completed the modules on basic communication skills from the patient- and the doctor-centred approaches).

Language: Portuguese

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific