Training physicians in communication skills with adolescents using teenage actors as simulated patients

Abstract

1 Role-play exercises with simulated patients may serve the purpose of training professionals to develop appropriate communication skills with adolescents. Authentic adolescent responses toward the physicians may be achieved by actors who themselves are in their teenage years. We describe our experience in continuing medical education programmes for primary care physicians aimed at improving their skills in communicating with adolescents, using simulation methodology with teenage actors. Eight 16±17-year-old actors from the drama department of a high school for the arts were trained to simulate 20 cases with characteristic adolescent medical problems, as well as con®dentiality issues and home and school problems. The actors performed in front of large groups of 20±30 paediatricians, family practitioners, or gynaecologists in continuing medical education. Diagnostic issues as well as therapeutic and management approaches were discussed, while the actors provided feedback to the trainees about their understanding and their feeling regarding the issues raised during the exercises. Normally, smaller learning groups are more suitable for such training purposes; nevertheless the participants could appreciate learning the principles of careful listening, a non-judgmental approach and assuring con®dentiality. A collaboration of medical schools and postgraduate programmes with high schools which have drama departments may be fruitful in the teaching of adolescent medicine with special emphasis on communication skills with teenagers.

Outcome of parent–physician communication skills training for pediatric residents

“…Conducting diagnostics and therapy with a sick child calls for a differentiated interactional approach at the parentphysician level. However, studies on communication training programs in the specialist area of pediatrics have mainly focused on patient-physician communication [5][6][7], and have largely neglected aspects of parent-physician communication.…”

“…They have proven to be highly realistic and to provide relevant feedback [8,10] resulting in improved objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) performance in undergraduate medical education [11]. In the field of pediatrics, children and adolescents have also served as standardized patients in communication training programs [5,6,[12][13][14][15] and in the context of performance evaluation (e.g. [16][17][18]).…”

The impact of repeated simulation on health and healthcare perceptions of simulated patients

“…This was contradictory to other studies. In one study adolescent SPs had more appreciation for clinicians with different viewpoints and doubts in various situations [15]. In another research project SPs reported a more balanced perspective on physicians [7].…”

Community-Based Collaboration with High School Theater Students as Standardized Patients

“…This innovative approach addressed the need for well-trained simulated patients and helped to narrow an observable shortage of trained adolescents in that role. [3][4][5] Both the pharmacy and public high schools accomplished the goal of their individual mission statements for increasing collaborative educational efforts with one another. Prior to the fall of 2004, the role of simulated patient was most often filled by pharmacy faculty members and/or first-professional year students.…”

“…[12][13] The use of adolescent and pediatric simulated patients is rare among medical schools, but in instances where they have been thus employed, both students and faculty members have responded favorably regarding the benefits of such encounters. [3][4][5] This exercise is novel in that high school students with a theater course requirement were utilized to interact with pharmacy students in a professional patient encounter.…”