Breaking bad news: an active learning method for medical students.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Communication Skills Training
• Clinical Practice

Background:

• Breaking bad news is a critical yet challenging medical communication skill.
• Assessing the effectiveness of novel training methods is essential for medical education.
• Fifth-year medical students require targeted training in delivering difficult news.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the relevance and impact of a new active learning course on breaking bad news.
• To compare the communication skills of students trained via active learning versus conventional methods.
• To assess the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary, discussion-based workshop.

Main Methods:

• A multidisciplinary active learning workshop was developed for an intervention group.
• A control group received standard university training without additional intervention.
• Student performance was assessed using a summative objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) focusing on communication skills.

Main Results:

• The intervention group achieved significantly higher OSCE scores (10.49/15) than the control group (7.80/15).
• A significantly higher proportion of students in the intervention group (88.2%) were perceived to have received additional training.
• No significant differences were found in self-esteem or empathy scores between groups.

Conclusions:

• The novel active learning method for breaking bad news significantly enhanced student performance in a summative OSCE.
• This approach shows promise in improving essential medical communication skills.
• Further validation studies are recommended to confirm these findings in the long term.