Lifelong Learning Indicators in Medical Students After a Novel Communication Skills Session

A growth mindset and mastery approach have gained attention as useful learning orientations in medical education, however few studies of interventions to foster these orientations exist.

We sought to discover whether a communication skills session on delivering serious news could foster a communication growth mindset and/or a mastery approach in medical students.

This was an interventional survey study of third-year medical students before and after a session on delivering serious news. Students were administered a communication mindset survey before and after the session; achievement goal and learning environment surveys were administered after the session. Chi-square tests were used to assess the difference in pre and post mindsets. Logistic regression was used to determine the odds of achieving a mastery approach with pre- and post-communication growth mindset as the independent variables.

Students' communication growth mindset increased from 79% (n = 186) before the intervention to 92% (n = 142) after the intervention. Achievement goal analysis demonstrated that 64% (n = 91) of students had a mastery approach, 14% (n = 20) had a performance approach and 22% (n = 32) had an avoidant approach. Ninety-nine percent (n = 151) felt the session provided a safe learning environment. The odds of having a mastery approach correlated with both pre and post-intervention growth mindset, with post-session growth mindset having the strongest correlation.

A novel communication skills session on delivering serious news fostered a communication growth mindset in third year medical students. Most students exhibited a mastery approach to learning; this approach was more likely when they had a growth mindset.