Article
Transfer of Statistical, Psychological and Neurobiological Expertise to Physician-patient Communication: An Evaluation of a Medical Curriculum
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Authors
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Nicole Deis
- Heidelberg University Hospital, General Internal and Psychosomatic Medicine, Heidelberg, Germany
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Beate Ditzen
- University Hospital Heidelberg, Institute of Medical Psychology, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg, Germany
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Monika Eckstein
- University Hospital Heidelberg, Institute of Medical Psychology, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg, Germany
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Angélique Herrler
- Heidelberg University Hospital, General Internal and Psychosomatic Medicine, Heidelberg, Germany
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Hannah Honecker
- University Hospital Heidelberg, Institute of Medical Psychology, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg, Germany
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Fabienne Ibert
- Heidelberg University Hospital, General Internal and Psychosomatic Medicine, Heidelberg, Germany
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Jana Jünger
- Heidelberg University Hospital, General Internal and Psychosomatic Medicine, Heidelberg, Germany
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Svenja Lommer-Steinhoff
- Heidelberg University Hospital, General Internal and Psychosomatic Medicine, Heidelberg, Germany
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Christoph Nikendei
- Heidelberg University Hospital, General Internal and Psychosomatic Medicine, Heidelberg, Germany
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Stella Preußler
- University of Heidelberg, Institute of Medical Biometry and Informatics, Heidelberg, Germany
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Isabelle Rek
- University Hospital Heidelberg, Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg, Germany
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Daniela Rösch-Ely
- University Hospital Heidelberg, Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg, Germany
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Anja Sander
- University of Heidelberg, Institute of Medical Biometry and Informatics, Heidelberg, Germany
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Andrea Schaal-Ardicoglu
- Heidelberg University Hospital, General Internal and Psychosomatic Medicine, Heidelberg, Germany
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Jobst-Hendrik Schultz
- Heidelberg University Hospital, General Internal and Psychosomatic Medicine, Heidelberg, Germany
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Sophie Schweizer
- University Hospital Heidelberg, Institute of Medical Psychology, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg, Germany
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Franziska Bäßler
- Heidelberg University Hospital, General Internal and Psychosomatic Medicine, Heidelberg, Germany
| Published: | March 7, 2017 |
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Outline
Text
Psychiatric or neurological diseases can cause impairment of intellectual abilities and require specific communication skills from doctors [2], [1]. It is important to apply basics in neurobiology and social interaction to communicate effectively with patients to reach emotion regulation on behalf of the patient [5]. Furthermore, in order to enable the patient to make shared decisions, doctors must be able to judge scientific information concerning the risks and uncertainty of treatment or diagnosis and communicate these adequately [3], [4].
Basic knowledge about the interrelations between cognition, emotion and communication is fundamental for the development of students' communication skills and the practical implications for the clinical workplace should be represented in the curriculum at the medical faculty in Heidelberg. Evidence-based medicine and risk communication are currently imparted in separate teaching formats. This implies that those concepts are not elaborated and coordinated sufficiently throughout the curriculum and cannot be applied in clinical settings by students. Therefore, it is important to integrate basics in neurobiology, statistics and social interaction longitudinally in the curriculum to facilitate the transfer of statistical and neurobiological knowledge to doctor-patient-communication at the workplace.
To assess how neurobiological principles, evidence-based medicine, risk communication and skills for the communication with emotionally dysregulated patients are represented in the curriculum a checklist consisting of 47 items was developed. 20 students are assessing teaching sessions in the pre-clinical section and in all modules of the clinical section from October 2016 until March 2017.
Once the assessment will be completed, it will be discussed and revised in interdisciplinary groups. Existing teaching formats will be revised to fully integrate the above mentioned concepts and if necessary, new teaching formats will be developed.
The interdisciplinary, longitudinal and application-oriented integration of scientific basics in the existing communication curriculum and assessment program is essential to ensure the transfer of statistical and neurobiological knowledge to doctor-patient-communication
References
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