Communication Skills Appropriate to Context: Our Approach to Meeting the Training Needs of Interns.
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Date
2014-12
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
South East Asia Regional Association for Medical Education.
Abstract
Objectives: To identify the core competency areas for teaching and training interns in communication
skills followed by evaluating effectiveness of the training subjectively, based on student perception.
Methods: At the outset we identified five key areas where doctors faced difficulty in communication in
their routine clinical practice. This was followed by a two day training programme to 160 interns
consisting of videos, hand-outs, lectures and role plays with emphasis on deliberate practice of skills.
At the end of the training, Internās perception about the effectiveness of the programme and their selfperceived
improvement in skills were assessed.
Results: The core competency areas listed by the doctors were: breaking bad news; dealing with a
parent resistant to immunisation; communicating with the distressed patient and irritated bystander in
casualty, explaining risks and procedures; and dealing with a patient with psychosomatic complaints.
Interns responses to the training methodology based on the core competencies were overwhelming
with 91% rating the training as effective. Role play was the most appreciated learning technique.
Increased self-perceived immediate improvement in Communication skills was reported by 85% of
Interns.
Conclusions: This exercise has helped us identify the key areas to be focused in communication skills
training for interns in our setting, as well as design appropriate teaching learning methods to achieve
the objectives. A systematic approach in developing a teaching-learning methodology stressing on
the content and process of communication skills training relevant to the local context using a mix of
experiential problem based and didactic methods should be stressed while framing a communication
skill curriculum.
Description
Keywords
Communication skills training for Interns- teaching learning process-context specific
Citation
Rahim A A, Govindaraj G M, Thekkekara R J, Anitha P M, Laila K V. Communication Skills Appropriate to Context: Our Approach to Meeting the Training Needs of Interns. South East Asia Regional Association for Medical Education. 2014 Dec; 8(2): 70-72.