Communication Skills in Patient-Physician Encounters

Target Population: Medical students Objectives: The objective of this course is to introduce the student to the challenges and importance of developing effective communication skills when dealing with patients and their families, and to discuss medical-legal issues in patient care. Course Description: Participants encounter simulated patients (actors) or their immediate family in scenarios focusing on different physical conditions like: fever and dyspnea, bleeding from the GI tract, chest pain and more. Colleagues and debriefing facilitators observe the encounters through one-way glass panels, and audiovisual recordings are made for the debriefing sessions.  On completion of the encounter, the participant receives feedback from the simulated patient, colleagues and debriefing facilitators and the recorded encounter is watched and discussed in the debriefing session.