Understanding patient’s perspectives of disease; communication skills teaching through video testimonies of real patient experiences
by Lowri Bowen
Poster Download (coming soon)
Background
Bristol medical school’s curriculum is undergoing radical change, with an enhanced focus on communication skills development. The importance of ensuring this teaching leads to high quality communication between doctors and patients is well established (1). Evidence advocates the use of video to support and enhance medical education (2).
Method
In this study patient testimony videos from an educational website called Speaking Clinically - an extensive collection of short movies in which patients talk frankly and openly about their medical conditions - were incorporated into teaching sessions, with the aims of enhancing sessions, improving student confidence in their communication skills and informing future curriculum construction.
Second year medical students undertook three communication skills teaching sessions. The first two ‘standard’ sessions ran as advised by the University; with students taking turns to experience a simulated patient consultation, followed by observer feedback. The third session included relevant, integrated videos from Speaking Clinically, which students watched following the consultation. Feedback was then collected via a questionnaire.
Results
Students reacted positively to the videos with 100% of students reporting that videos enhanced the session, compared to the ‘standard’ session. Students also felt more confident in empathetically communicating with patients, after integrating the videos into the session.
Students reported overwhelmingly positive views regarding the use of video.
Conclusion
The novel communication skills teaching model proposed through this study found that integrated patient testimony videos bring an added value to student’s teaching and increases confidence in their communication skills.
References
- Makoul G, Schofield T. Communication teaching and assessment in medical education: an international consensus statement. Patient education and Counseling. 1999; 37(2):191-195.
- Hurtubise L, Martin B, Gilliland A, Mahan J. To play or not to play: leveraging video in medical education. Journal of graduate medical education. 2013; 5(1):13-18."