Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, and the University of South Florida College of Medicine conducted a study in which they determined the effectiveness of an educational program designed to teach students how to convey difficult news.
The study, published in a recent issue of the Journal of Cancer Education, involved videotaped sessions in which medical students participated by bearing difficult news to mock “standardized patients” (SPs). The SPs role-played patients with a variety of cancers who were receiving bad medical news.
“One of the biggest challenges a physician will face is conveying difficult news to a patient,” said study coauthor Gwendolyn Quinn, PhD, director of the Survey Methods Core Facility at Moffitt. “Despite the importance of this skill, formal education in conveying bad news to patients has been limited.”
Videotaped sessions take place in fully equipped learning labs with bidirectional video cameras filming during the medical student’s 15-minute meeting with an SP. SPs are instructed not to ask about treatment options but rather focus on the emotional aspects of hearing bad news. There is an emphasis on students’ nonverbal communication, such as eye contact, and also on verbal skills related to helping patients deal with denial, shock, and tears.
Following the mock appointment, medical students, in groups of 3 to 5, review their videotaped sessions with a surgical oncologist. During this assessment, strengths and weaknesses of each student’s communication technique are discussed, and suggestions on improvement are offered. The SP also offers the patient’s perception of the student’s technique or style.
“Although these encounters cannot replace actual patient interactions, these exercises provide a safe learning environment for the student,” concluded the study authors. “As a result, the students will have a solid background from which to begin developing good communication skills in the oncology setting.”
Source: Moffitt Cancer Center.
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