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Objective. To design and implement a demonstration project to teach interprofessional teams how to recognize and engage in difficult conversations with patients. Design. Interdisciplinary teams consisting of pharmacy students and residents, student nurses, and medical residents responded to preliminary questions regarding difficult conversations, listened to a brief discussion on difficult conversations; formed ad hoc teams and interacted with a standardized patient (mother) and a human simulator (child), discussing the infant's health issues, intimate partner violence, and suicidal thinking; and underwent debriefing. Assessment. Participants evaluated the learning methods positively and a majority demonstrated knowledge gains. The project team also learned lessons that will help better design future programs, including an emphasis on simulations over lecture and the importance of debriefing on student learning. Drawbacks included the major time commitment for design and implementation, sustainability, and the lack of resources to replicate the program for all students. Conclusion. Simulation is an effective technique to teach interprofessional teams how to engage in difficult conversations with patients.Keywords: simulation, standardized patients, interprofessional teams, communication INTRODUCTIONGraduates from health professional schools are expected to have competencies well beyond knowledge of drugs and diseases. A 2003 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report highlighted the need for health professional students to be educated to deliver patient-centered care, employ evidence-based practice, apply quality improvements, use informatics and practice in interdisciplinary teams as a way to improve patient safety.1 The 2007 Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (APCE) Accreditation Standards and Guidelines for the Professional Program in Pharmacy aligned the IOM report recommendations in terms of changes for pharmacy education. Specifically, the ACPE Standards state that graduates must be competent to deliver patient-centered care and to communicate and collaborate with patients, their caregivers, physicians, nurses, and other health care providers. Additionally, the Standards highlight the importance of students developing critical-thinking and problem-solving skills.The Pharmaceutical Care section of the 2007 Center for the Advancement of Pharmaceutical Education (CAPE) Guidelines includes educational outcomes related to communication with patients, caregivers, and other health professionals. Specifically, the CAPE Guidelines state that students should develop competency in fostering collaborative relationships that embodies teambased care, demonstrates a caring and respectful attitude, and communicates information in a way that patients and healthcare professionals understand in order to communicate ''clearly, accurately, compassionately, confidently, and persuasively. '' 3 The ACPE Standards encourage working with actual or simulated patients and health care professionals whenever possible during the ins...

Objective. To create, implement, and evaluate a pharmacy course on motivational interviewing. Design. A 3-hour elective course was created to train doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students in brief patient-centered motivational interviewing counseling strategies that have proven effective with the types of health issues most commonly addressed in pharmacy settings. Students were assisted in developing their skills through required readings, interactive lectures, in-class demonstrations and practice sessions, out of class skills practice, one-on-one supervision provided by doctoral level clinical health psychology students, and written reflections on each class session. Assessment. Students demonstrated significant improvement in motivational interviewing skills and a high level of motivation for and confidence in using these skills in their future practice. Students overall assessment of the course and supervision process was highly positive. Conclusion. This patient-centered counseling skills course was feasible and produced improvements in PharmD students' counseling skills and increased their motivation and confidence to use motivational interviewing skills in their future communications with patients.

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