Teaching delivery of bad news using experiential sessions with standardized patients.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND:
Delivering bad news is a difficult task that is important to address in medical education.

PURPOSE:
This study evaluated the impact of an experiential educational intervention using multiple standardized patient scenarios on medical students' comfort with delivering difficult news.

METHODS:
In small groups, 3rd-year medical students practiced communicating bad news within the context of five different patient scenarios. During 1999 and 2000, surveys were administered to 341 students before and 4 weeks and 1 year after the program. Students rated comfort level in discussing bad news, terminal illness, hospice, and dying with patients.

RESULTS:
A significant one standard deviation change was observed in students' self-reported comfort in communicating bad news after the educational program. The intervention was highly rated, especially the encounters with standardized patients and observation of others.

CONCLUSIONS:
Experiential education using multiple standardized patient scenarios is a successful model for increasing student comfort in responding to difficult clinical communication tasks.

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Author information

Author/s: Rosenbaum, Marcy E (ME); Kreiter, Clarence (C);

Affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA. Marcy-rosenbaum(-atsign-)uiowa.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Teaching and learning in medicine (Teach Learn Med), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-; vol 14 (issue 3) : pp 144-9

Dates: Created 2002/08/22; Completed 2003/01/31; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 12189633, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Questionnaires
Role Playing
Students, Medical - psychology
Teaching - methods
Truth Disclosure

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