Teaching delivery of bad news using experiential sessions with standardized patients.

摘要

BACKGROUND: Delivering bad news is a difficult task that is important to address in medical education. PURPOSE: This study evaluated the impact of an experiential educational intervention using multiple standardized patient scenarios on medical students' comfort with delivering difficult news. METHODS: In small groups, 3rd-year medical students practiced communicating bad news within the context of five different patient scenarios. During 1999 and 2000, surveys were administered to 341 students before and 4 weeks and 1 year after the program. Students rated comfort level in discussing bad news, terminal illness, hospice, and dying with patients. RESULTS: A significant one standard deviation change was observed in students' self-reported comfort in communicating bad news after the educational program. The intervention was highly rated, especially the encounters with standardized patients and observation of others. CONCLUSIONS: Experiential education using multiple standardized patient scenarios is a successful model for increasing student comfort in responding to difficult clinical communication tasks.