How can Doctors Improve their Communication Skills?

Investigating strategies used by hospital pharmacists to effectively communicate with patients during medication counselling

“…Patient collaboration should be encouraged from the onset using open‐ended questions such as “What sorts of medication concerns or questions would you like to talk about?” This is in contrast to the current situation where pharmacists inform patients how the conversation will unfold and then continue onward in a task‐oriented approach. Including patients in agenda‐setting by eliciting their expectations for the conversation has been favourably described in physician research . Not engaging patients in the design and purpose of the medication counselling session could be interpreted as under‐accommodating patients’ power and relationship needs by not allowing their input into this initial stage.…”

Reducing healthcare conflict: outcomes from using the conflict management framework

“…Staff reported that the training provided them with a marked advantage by improving their communication skills with families. Notably listening and perspective-taking were both cited as important, reflecting what Ranjan et al 27 refer to as frequently neglected communication skills. This study has successfully extended previous work where training was offered as a stand-alone intervention11 by adding the CMF as a framework that staff can adopt when they identify conflict.…”

Integrating Community Services with Learning:An Approach to Soft Skills Development for Medical Students Universitas Padjadjaran

“…The process of curing a patient requires a holistic approach which involves considerations beyond treating a disease. It warrants several skills in a doctor, along with technical expertise (9). A number of studies have found that students tend to lose empathic and idealistic motivations over the course of medical education.…”