Application of doctor-patient communication skills in clinical teaching of postgraduates of tumour radiotherapy

Background: To cultivate the doctor-patient communication ability of medical students as the core and explore the new model of clinical communication ability training and evaluation for graduate students majoring in tumour radiotherapy and its application value.Methods: From January 2018 to June 2019, 60 postgraduates who were interned in the Department of Tumour Radiotherapy in our hospital were selected as the subjects, who were randomly divided into the experimental group (30) and control group (30). The experimental group adopted the Case Based Learning(CBL) teaching mode of introducing doctor-patient communication skills training, and the control group adopted the traditional CBL teaching method. After the teaching, the two groups of students were evaluated, measured and gave feedback on the effect of the teaching through the combination of examination and patient satisfaction questionnaire. The data were statistically analysed by SPSS19.0 software.Results: The doctor-patient communication skills assessment scale score of the experimental group was better than that of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Patients' satisfaction in the experimental group was higher than that in the control group (P<0.05).Conclusion: The CBL teaching mode of introducing doctor-patient communication skills training for postgraduates of tumour radiotherapy can increase doctor-patient communication ability and improve patient satisfaction.

Training patients to reach their communication goals

Although effective physician–patient communication relies on both parties, an overwhelming majority of literature within the field of healthcare communication has focused on the physician or healthcare provider. This chapter presents research aimed at improving patient communication skills and physician–patient interactions through patient training. Published interventions can be categorized as those that entail the presentation of written materials only, materials plus some form of individualized coaching, or a group-based training format. Many patient communication interventions focus exclusively on patient question asking. Interventions reviewed in this chapter incorporate a broader range of skills towards a more comprehensive training. Available literature has demonstrated the impact of patient communication skills training on patient self-efficacy, behavioural intention, observed skill usage, treatment adherence, and more. A notable limitation of current research is the lack of a unifying theoretical model. The chapter proposes concordance, or shared physician–patient agreement, as a useful conceptual framework.