Learning to Communicate With Patients About Potentially Painful Gynecologic Procedures

Doing painful procedures is a part of obstetrics and gynecology practice. Patients' pain experiences are subjective, diverse, and based on life experiences that can include trauma, adverse childhood events, and previous labor. Learners should have opportunities to gain knowledge about pain and the informed consent process during preclinical medical education, to observe and practice informed consent exchanges that include a discussion of pain and pain management with standardized and real patients during different stages of their training, to receive timely feedback from seasoned clinicians who understand that shared decision-making is an essential component of an informed consent discussion, and to learn from every patient encounter in order to inform the next one (reflective practice).