Assessment of Communication and Interpersonal Skills Competencies

Abstract

Excellent communication and interpersonal (C-IP) skills are a universal requirement for a well-rounded emergency physician. This requirement for C-IP skill excellence is a direct outgrowth of the expectations of our patients and a prerequisite to working in the increasingly complex emergency department environment. Directed education and assessment of C-IP skills are critical components of all emergency medicine (EM) training programs and now are a requirement of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Outcome Project. In keeping with its mission to improve the quality of EM education and in response to the ACGME Outcome Project, the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors (CORD-EM) hosted a consensus conference focusing on the application of the six core competencies to EM. The objective of this article is to report the results of this consensus conference as it relates to the C-IP competency. There were four primary goals: 1) define the C-IP skills competency for EM, 2) define the assessment methods currently used in other specialties, 3) identify the methods suggested by the ACGME for use in C-IP skills, and 4) analyze the applicability of these assessment techniques to EM. Ten specific communication competencies are defined for EM. Assessment techniques for evaluation of these C-IP competencies and a timeline for implementation are also defined. Standardized patients and direct observation were identified as the criterion standard assessment methods of C-IP skills; however, other methods for assessment are also discussed. Key words: communication; interpersonal skills; core competency; assessment. ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2002; 9:1257-1269 Emergency department (ED) patient encounters are unique in medicine. They are often a single encounter for a new/unknown patient, and the duration and quality of the encounter are influenced by time pressures. As such, the emergency physician (EP) must quickly establish rapport and trust with the patient, gather information, assess the cause of the emergency, and design a treatment plan. The EP must also be able to effectively communicate findings and plans with the patient, the family, and other members of the health care team. Communication and interpersonal (C-IP) skills are a key component of a well-rounded EP. These skills

Assessing Interpersonal and Communication Skills in Emergency Medicine

“…Many of the more significant advances in ICS assessment have occurred since Hobgood et al 2 produced their article in 2002. Assessment of ICS skills in EM residents primarily uses direct observation in either a simulation or workplace environment (i.e., standardized direct observation tool [SDOT]), external feedback (360-degree assessment), or a global summative assessment done at the end of a specific period of time by faculty.…”

“…However, much of the assessment tools to date focus on more granular aspects of ICS. 2,5,7,9,10,14,20,22,24,27,28,32,39,40,48,55,65,66,72,[81][82][83][84] Validated Tools Within the medical education literature, there is a paucity of validation studies for direct observational assessment tools. Table 6 summarizes validated ICS tools.…”

“…1 In 2002, the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors (CORD) convened a consensus conference to address competencies in emergency medicine (EM). 2 The results of that conference, interpreted by Hobgood et al 2 for the ICS competencies, are noted in Table 2. Direct observation was seen as more beneficial at the time, due to its immediate availability.…”

Communicating With Patients: Skills Assessment in US Colleges of Pharmacy

“…A similar consensus conference on assessment of communication competencies was convened in 2002 for educational programs in emergency medicine. 15 In addition, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education compiled assessment instruments and procedures in a ''Toolbox of Assessment Methods'' distributed on the Council website at www. acgme.org/outcome/assess/toolbox.asp.…”

Designing Assessment Programmes for the Model Curriculum for Emergency Medicine Specialists

“…Although it is beyond the scope of this paper to describe the utility of these methods in detail, a summary of the utility of some the assessment methods described above is presented in the supplementary online appendices (Appendices 8-10). In addition, several excellent reviews currently exist which describe the utility of these assessment methods in general postgraduate training 8,9,[25][26][27] and with reference to the ACGME 21,22,[28][29][30][31][32][33] and CanMEDS framework 10,23 .…”