Elizabeth P Howell 1 , Jonathan Fischer 2 , Fidel A Valea 3 , Brittany A Davidson 4 Show Affiliations »
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Delivery of excellent patient care hinges on effective communication. Improved communication between physicians, patients, and colleagues can facilitate shared decision-making and foster successful interprofessional teams. Despite the importance of this skill, little is understood about the status or acceptability of dedicated communication training during obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) residency. OBJECTIVE: To explore the national landscape of dedicated communication didactics during OB/GYN training. METHODS: Residents and program directors (PDs) at ACGME-accredited programs were emailed anonymized surveys. Survey responses pertaining to communication didactics and trainee experiences were evaluated using descriptive statistics and chi-squared tests. RESULTS: Of 143 PDs, 45 responded (31.5%). Although the total number of residents receiving our survey is unattainable, our 215 resident respondents can be estimated to represent at least 4.4% of trainees. 98.1% of residents reported challenging clinical communication at least monthly, with many reporting this weekly (47.9%) and daily (30.0%). A majority of PDs (77.8%) and residents (67.0%) endorsed interest in communication training. 62.2% of programs reported formally teaching communication skills. Certain topics were infrequently taught yet cited by residents as particularly challenging-such as "diffusing conflict" and "angry patient or family members." PDs tended to significantly overestimate trainee competence in conducting difficult conversations with both patients (p = 0.0003) and interdisciplinary colleagues (p < 0.0001), as compared with resident self-assessments. CONCLUSIONS: Residents encounter frequent challenging communications interactions, and often feel inadequately equipped to navigate them. Dedicated didactics may provide a critical component to optimally educating of the next generation of trainees within OB/GYN and more broadly. © International Association of Medical Science Educators 2020.
BACKGROUND: Delivery of excellent patient care hinges on effective communication. Improved communication between physicians, patients, and colleagues can facilitate shared decision-making and foster successful interprofessional teams. Despite the importance of this skill, little is understood about the status or acceptability of dedicated communication training during obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) residency. OBJECTIVE: To explore the national landscape of dedicated communication didactics during OB/GYN training. METHODS: Residents and program directors (PDs) at ACGME-accredited programs were emailed anonymized surveys. Survey responses pertaining to communication didactics and trainee experiences were evaluated using descriptive statistics and chi-squared tests. RESULTS: Of 143 PDs, 45 responded (31.5%). Although the total number of residents receiving our survey is unattainable, our 215 resident respondents can be estimated to represent at least 4.4% of trainees. 98.1% of residents reported challenging clinical communication at least monthly, with many reporting this weekly (47.9%) and daily (30.0%). A majority of PDs (77.8%) and residents (67.0%) endorsed interest in communication training. 62.2% of programs reported formally teaching communication skills. Certain topics were infrequently taught yet cited by residents as particularly challenging-such as "diffusing conflict" and "angry patient or family members." PDs tended to significantly overestimate trainee competence in conducting difficult conversations with both patients (p = 0.0003) and interdisciplinary colleagues (p < 0.0001), as compared with resident self-assessments. CONCLUSIONS: Residents encounter frequent challenging communications interactions, and often feel inadequately equipped to navigate them. Dedicated didactics may provide a critical component to optimally educating of the next generation of trainees within OB/GYN and more broadly. © International Association of Medical Science Educators 2020.
Entities: Chemical
Keywords:
Communication; National survey; Obstetrics and gynecology; Resident education; Skills
Year: 2020
PMID： 34457769 PMCID： PMC8368866 DOI： 10.1007/s40670-020-01017-9
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Med Sci Educ ISSN： 2156-8650