communicative competences into the curriculum. Take-home message: Integrating the linguistic cognitive skills into the medical curriculum is a political matter.
AMEE 2017 Abstract Book Tuesday 29th August #7L3 (2729) A case study to explore how medical students learn linguistic cognitive skills during preclinical training
#7L4 (1878) Role Play as an Educational Tool: “Patient Encounters” Workshop
John Vergel, Universidad del Rosario School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bogota, Colombia Martha Ortiz, Universidad del Rosario School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bogota, Colombia Diana Laverde, Universidad del Rosario School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bogota, Colombia Gustavo Quintero, Universidad del Rosario School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bogota, Colombia
Päivi Polo, Turku University, Turku, Finland
Background: Communicative competences are considered central aspects of the medical profession but are often reduced to the physician-patient relationship. Little attention has been given to teaching the linguistic cognitive skills. This study was conducted to understand how medical students learn linguistic cognitive skills during preclinical training in an integrated curriculum. Summary of work: Using a case study, we conducted 3 indepth interviews on 14 undergraduate medical students during their clinical training asking their experiences on learning linguistic cognitive skills during their preclinical training. Inspired by the grounded theory techniques, we analyzed the qualitative data to develop a framework to interpret results. Summary of results: The conceptual framework generated contained two main constructs: 1) ‘political strains of integrating the linguistic cognitive skills into the medical curriculum’, and 2) the effect of ‘nobody knows what they have until it is gone’. Discussion: Under the first construct, students commented there exists some clinical courses considered fundamental, but some others that promote linguistic cognitive skills are perceived unimportant. Under the second construct, students missed the opportunities they had for learning communicative skills in preclinical training. Conclusion: This framework describes how medical students perceive learning of the linguistic cognitive skills during preclinical training. We believe the theoretical constructs that emerged from this study will help curriculum designers to consider the students’ feedback about how they experience the integration of communicative competences into the curriculum. Take-home message: Integrating the linguistic cognitive skills into the medical curriculum is a political matter. Curriculum designers should consider how students perceive the power relationships of the biomedical, clinical, and social science courses to construct a successful integrated curriculum.
Background: In addition to knowledge of and compliance with medical guidelines, good medical care includes being considerate and respectful towards the patient. Thus, achieving favourable outcomes in medical care requires successful communication with the patients, which in turn results in patients’ confidence and adherence to their medical care and treatment. Summary of work: The students play a “doctor” one at a time, whereas the teacher assumes “patient” roles with eight different characters: a demanding woman, a nervous woman, a crying girl, a girl with a dominating mother, a shouting man, a withdrawn woman, an aggressive man, and an inquisitive elder woman. Summary of results: After each scene, the students describe their reactions to the situation. Afterwards, other students and the teacher give feedback and the situation is discussed in general terms. (In the presentation in AMEE a video of the workshop will be presented.) Discussion: The workshops consist of small groups (maximum 8 students per group), which makes it easier for the students to give into the role of a doctor and give feedback. The workshop takes place during the final stages of their medical training, after they have already had some clinical experience. Conclusion: The workshop has gained excellent feedback from students. They have considered it an important part of their medical education, and have wished for even more training on the subject. Take-home message: Although the subject is acknowledged to be important, the education on the subject of successful patient encounters is limited in the medical faculty, and it is extremely warranted. Using role play as an educational tool offers unique opportunities to approach the subject.
