Communication with Adolescents

Target Population: Military physicians from recruitment centers. Objectives: To improve physicians’ communication skills with adolescents in order to		Related content For Doctors, a Simulating Experience Haaretz.com |  July 2006 Read More...
better identify health problems prior to recruits joining the Israel Defense Forces, and to establish an empathic atmosphere during the physician-adolescent encounter at the recruitment center. Course Description: The one-day training for recruitment centers’ physicians focuses on common adolescent health issues and the characteristics of the adolescent-physician encounter, including pitfalls in communicating with teenagers. During the simulation, physicians encounter simulated patients (teenagers) in eight scenarios dealing with various typical adolescent health problems, for example fatigue and dizziness due to anemia in a 17-year-old girl. Following the encounters, specialists in adolescent medicine conduct a debriefing sessions in order to learn and improve the communication skills of the trainees.