Professionalism and Communication Education in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine: The Learner Perspective

Abstract

Objectives Communication and professionalism are often challenging to teach, and the impact of employing a given approach is not known. We undertook this investigation to establish PCCM trainee perception of education in professionalism and communication and to compare their responses from those obtained from Pediatric Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) fellowship program directors. Methods The Education in Pediatric Intensive Care (E.P.I.C.) Investigators used the modified Delphi technique to develop a survey examining teaching of professionalism and communication. After piloting, the survey was sent to all 283 PCCM fellows in training in the United States. Results Survey response rate was 47% (133/283). Despite high rates of teaching overall, deficiencies were noted in all areas of communication and professionalism assessed. The largest areas included not being specifically taught how to communicate: as a member of a non-clinical group (reported in 24%), across a broad range of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds (19%) or how to provide consultation outside of the ICU (17%). Only 50% of fellows rated education in communication as ‘very good/excellent.’ but most felt confident in their communication abilities. For professionalism, fellows reported not being taught: accountability (12%), conducting a peer review (12%), and handling potential conflict between personal beliefs, circumstances, and professional values (10%). 57% of fellows felt that their professionalism education was ‘very good/excellent,’ but nearly all expressed confidence in these skills. Compared with program directors, fellows reported more deficiencies in both communication and professionalism. Conclusions There are numerous components of communication and professionalism that PCCM fellows perceive as not being specifically taught. Despite these deficiencies, fellow confidence remains high. Substantial opportunities exist to improve teaching in these areas. What’s New This investigation provides insight into the trainee perspective on both the effectiveness and areas of deficiency in teaching the domains of professionalism and communication in pediatric critical care medicine.

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