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Related Experiment Videos

Teaching students to break bad news.

L Colletti1, L Gruppen, M Barclay

  • 1Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Medical School, 2922H Taubman, Box 0331, 1500 East Medical Center Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0331, USA. colleti@umich.edu

American Journal of Surgery
|September 5, 2001
PubMed
Summary

Medical students trained in breaking bad news using standardized patient instructors (SPI) showed improved communication skills. This training demonstrated effectiveness and potential for transfer across different medical scenarios.

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Area of Science:

  • Medical Education
  • Communication Skills Training
  • Healthcare Simulation

Background:

  • Physicians traditionally learn breaking bad news through experience or observation.
  • Medical education needs structured methods for teaching these critical skills.
  • Standardized patient instructor (SPI) experiences were developed for "breaking bad news" training.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the effectiveness of "breaking bad news" SPI experiences for junior medical students.
  • To evaluate if communication skills training transfers across different clinical contexts.

Main Methods:

  • Twenty-one junior medical students participated in SPI scenarios involving rectal cancer or pregnancy loss.
  • A cohort of 17 students without SPI experience also participated.

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  • Performance was evaluated during a clinical performance examination (CPE) focusing on pregnancy loss.

    • Main Results:

    • Students with prior "breaking bad news" SPI training performed significantly better on the pregnancy loss CPE station.
    • No significant performance difference was observed between students trained on rectal cancer versus pregnancy loss SPIs.
    • The training demonstrated a positive impact on students' ability to communicate difficult news.

    Conclusions:

    • The study provides evidence supporting the efficacy of structured bad news communication skills teaching.
    • The findings suggest that these communication skills can be transferable across various medical content areas.
    • SPIs are a valuable tool for medical education in sensitive communication.