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Teaching delivery of bad news using experiential sessions with standardized patients
Marcy E Rosenbaum1, Clarence Kreiter
1Department of Family Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA. Marcy-rosenbaum@uiowa.edu
Background:
Delivering bad news is a difficult task that is important to address in medical education.
Purpose:
This study evaluated the impact of an experiential educational intervention using multiple standardized patient scenarios on medical students' comfort with delivering difficult news.
Methods:
In small groups, 3rd-year medical students practiced communicating bad news within the context of five different patient scenarios. During 1999 and 2000, surveys were administered to 341 students before and 4 weeks and 1 year after the program. Students rated comfort level in discussing bad news, terminal illness, hospice, and dying with patients.
Results:
A significant one standard deviation change was observed in students' self-reported comfort in communicating bad news after the educational program. The intervention was highly rated, especially the encounters with standardized patients and observation of others.
Conclusions:
Experiential education using multiple standardized patient scenarios is a successful model for increasing student comfort in responding to difficult clinical communication tasks.