Evaluation of an interprofessional clinician-patient communication workshop utilizing standardized patient methodology.

OBJECTIVE

Communication and interpersonal skills (CIS) are one of the 6 general competencies required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The clinician-patient communication (CPC) workshop, developed by the Institute for Healthcare Communication, provides an interactive opportunity to practice and develop CIS. The objectives of this study were to (1) determine the impact of a CPC workshop on orthopedic surgery residents' CIS (2) determine the impact of physician alone or incorporation of nursing participation in the workshop, and (3) incorporate standardized patients (SPs) in resident training and assessment of CIS.

METHODS

Stratified by training year, 18 residents of an Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program were randomized to a CPC workshop with only residents (group A, n = 9) or a CPC workshop with nurse participants (group B, n = 9). Data included residents' (1) CIS scores as evaluated by SPs and (2) self-reports from a 25-question survey on perception of CIS. Data were collected at baseline and 3 weeks following the workshop.

RESULTS

Following the workshop, the combined group (group A and B) felt more strongly that the ACGME should require a communication training and evaluation curriculum (post mean = 52.7, post-pre difference = 15.94, p = 0.026). Group A residents felt more strongly that communication is a learned behavior (post mean = 82.7, post-pre difference = 17.67, p = 0.028), and the addition of SPs was a valuable experience (post mean = 59.3, post-pre difference = 16.44, p = 0.038). Group B residents reported less willingness to improve on their communication skills (post-mean = 79.7, post-pre difference = -7.44, p = 0.049) and less improvement in professional satisfaction in effective communication than group A (post mean group A = 81.9, group B = 83.6, post-pre difference group A = 7.11, group B = 1.89, p = 0.047). Few differences between groups regarding CIS scores were detected.

CONCLUSIONS

While there was no demonstrable difference regarding CIS, our study indicates that participants valued the importance of communication training and found SPs to be a valuable addition. The addition of interprofessional participation appeared to detract from the experience. Further study is warranted to elucidate the variables associated with interprofessional education within the context of CIS training and assessment using SPs in residency.