Ulrich Woermann

Benefits of communication skills training after real patient exposure

Background:  The established communication skills training (CST) curriculum consists of continuous education, frequent practice with real patients, supervision and feedback from medical teachers. The limitation of this curriculum is that students have to directly apply the theoretical basis they are provided with to real patients. To improve the existing CST curriculum a CST module involving simulated patients was introduced in order to develop more complex communication skills.

Video-based instructions for surgical hand disinfection as a replacement for conventional tuition? A randomised, blind comparative study.

Introduction: Various different learning methods are available for planning tuition regarding the introduction to surgical hand disinfection. These learning methods should help to organise and deal with this topic. The use of a video film is an alternative to conventional tuition due to the real presentation possibilities of practical demonstration. Objective: This study examines by way of comparison which form of communication is more effective for learning and applying surgical hand disinfection for medical students in their first year of studies: video-based instruction or conventional tuition. Methodology: A total of 50 first-year medical students were randomly allocated either to the “Conventional Instruction” (CI) study group or to the “Video-based Instruction” (VI) study group. The conventional instruction was carried out by an experienced nurse preceptor/nurse educator for the operating theatre who taught the preparatory measures and the actual procedure in a two-minute lesson. The second group watched a two-minute video sequence with identical content. Afterwards, both groups demonstrated practically the knowledge they had acquired at an individual practical test station. The quality (a) of the preparation and (b) of the procedure as well as (c) the quality of the results was assessed by 6 blind experts using a check list. The acceptability of the respective teaching method was also asked about using a questionnaire. Results: The group performance did not differ either in the preparation (t=-78, p<0.44) or in the quality (t=-99, p<0.34). With respect to performance, it was possible to demonstrate a strong treatment effect. In the practical (t=-3.33, p<0.002, d=0.943) and in the total score (t=-2.65, p<0.011, d=0.751), the group with video-based instruction achieved a significantly better result. In response to the question as to which of the two learning methods they would prefer, the significant majority (60.4%) of students stated video instruction. Conclusion: In this study, the use of the video-based instruction emerged as the more effective teaching method for learning surgical hand disinfection for medical students and is preferable to conventional instruction. The video instruction is associated with a higher learning effectiveness, efficiency and acceptability.

The learning effects of different presentations of worked examples on medical students’ breaking-bad-news skills: A randomized and blinded field trial

OBJECTIVES Effective instructional approaches are needed to enable undergraduates to optimally prepare for the limited training time they receive with simulated patients (SPs). This study examines the learning effects of different presentation formats of a worked example on student SP communication. METHODS Sixty-seven fourth-year medical students attending a mandatory communication course participated in this randomized field trial. Prior to the course, they worked through an e-learning module that introduced the SPIKES protocol for delivering bad news to patients. In this module, a single worked example was presented to one group of students in a text version, to a second group in a video version, and to a third group in a video version enriched with text hints denoting the SPIKES steps. RESULTS The video-with-hints group broke bad news to SPs significantly more appropriately than either of the other groups. Although no further condition-related effects were revealed, students who learned from the text version most frequently (although non-significantly) ignored unpleasant emotions (standardised emotional cues and concerns) expressed by the SPs. CONCLUSIONS The learning effect was strongest when the video-based worked example was accompanied by hints. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS Video-related learning approaches that embed attention-guiding hints can effectively prepare undergraduates for SP encounters.

Interprofessionelles Seminar zur Schweigepflicht

Lehrveranstaltungen zu Schweigepflicht und Berufsgeheimnis wurden in verschiedenen Bildungsinstitutionen auf die gleiche Weise, namlich fallbasiert, angeboten. Aus dieser Feststellung entstand die Idee, Synergien zu nutzen, bzw. Doppelspurigkeiten zu minimieren und: Schweigepflicht als anspruchsvolle, nicht immer eindeutig klare Herausforderung gemeinsam anzubieten.

Blended Learning "Polypharmazie im Alter" im 4. Studienjahr Humanmedizin

Einführung In der Schweiz nehmen mehr als 41 % der über 65-jährigen, zu Hause lebenden Menschen ≥5 verschiedene Medikamente ein1. Die Überprüfung komplexer Medikationen gehört zu den ärztlichen Kernkompetenzen. Entsprechende Lernziele sind im Schweizerischen Lernzielkatalog SCLO (http://sclo.smifk.ch) formuliert (P 233, C PT 8, C PT 15). Unser Ziel war, die Medizinstudierenden der Universität Bern im Hinblick auf ihre klinische Tätigkeit auf den Umgang mit Polypharmazie im Alter vorzubereiten.