A Balint-inspired reflective forum in oncology for medical residents: main themes during seven years

Reflection groups for clinicians, often called Balint groups, are a way of refining professional competence in health care. This study presents a model for reflective practice in a group setting and describes the kinds of troublesome cases that medical residents are concerned about.

From 2005 to 2012 a Balint-inspired reflective forum has been a part of the academic seminar program for physicians in training in a Department of Oncology at a Swedish university. The present study is focused on all 63 cases presented in the forum.

The cases were categorized into three kinds of challenges: Communication challenges in the patient-physician relationship, Communication challenges in organizational matters, and Communication challenges with close relatives of the patient.

The study tells us something about the vulnerability of being a medical resident and the identified challenges have bearings on medical education curricula as well as on how the training of junior physicians is organized.

The cases are contextual and multifaceted, and a forum of this kind might therefore be regarded as a potential way to develop professional competence and to refine communication in clinical practice. A structured evaluation of the forum would be valuable.