Multi-source evaluation of interpersonal and communication skills of family medicine residents

Objective: Primary care physicians are the first means of access to further healthcare services and act as a doorkeeper for different specialties at the secondary and tertiary levels; thus, communication skills are one of the most vital skills to be taught to residents in the family medicine specialty. This study aimed to evaluate the communication skills of family medicine residents in Oman from the perspective of their patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed at the Family and Community Medicine Clinic of Sultan Qaboos University Hospital as well as various Ministry of Health training health centers in Muscat, Oman. An Arabic version of the validated 14-item Communication Assessment Tool (CAT) was used to evaluate patients’ perceptions regarding the communication skills of family medicine residents at the end of their consultation. Data were collected between September 2020 and May 2021 from 602 patients who received care or interacted with 60 residents from the Oman Medical Specialty Board (OMSB) Family Medicine Residency Program at different residency levels. Results: The mean percentage of CAT items rated as excellent was 73.8%. The item “Treated me with respect” was most commonly rated as excellent (84.2%), whilst the item "Involved me in decisions as much as I wanted" was least frequently rated as excellent (62.0%). Various factors were found to significantly affect CAT rating, including residency level, type of clinic, number of times seeing the same resident, and the patient's education level. In contrast, other factors such as time of consultation, the gender of either the resident or the patient, and the nationality of the patient did not affect CAT rating. Conclusion: Some areas of weakness especially with the item "encouraged me to ask questions" and involved me in decisions as much as I wanted" identified in the communication skills of OMSB family medicine residents. These findings are comparable with those reported by similar studies worldwide.

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Self-assessment of residents in respect of attitudes to communication

Primary Health Care Research & Development ◽

10.1017/s1463423618000920 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 ◽

Author(s):

Rustu Kaya ◽

Ali Ramazan Benli ◽

Aybala Cebecik ◽

Didem Sunay

Keyword(s):

Internal Medicine ◽

Family Medicine ◽

Communication Skills ◽

General Surgery ◽

Skills Training ◽

Attitude Scale ◽

University Hospital ◽

Communication Skills Training ◽

The Mean ◽

Family Medicine Residents

AbstractAimAs communication skills are essential for medical practice, many medical schools have added communication skills training to their curricula in recent years. The aim of this study was to determine and compare the attitudes to communication skills of family medicine, internal medicine and general surgery residents.Materials and methodsFamily medicine, internal medicine and general surgery residents of three training and research hospitals and one university hospital in Ankara were included in this cross-sectional study. A questionnaire was used for obtaining information about age, gender, marital status, graduation date and whether receiving any training for communication skills. The Turkish version of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale was used.ResultsIn all, 58 (50%) family medicine, 30 (25.9%) internal medicine, and 28 (24.1%) general surgery residents were accepted to participate in the study. Of the 116 residents, 58 (50%) were female and 58 (50%) were male, with a mean age of 29.47±4.63 years, and 68 (58.6%) of them were married; 59.5% of the participants received training about communication skills and 56.5% of them received it at medical school. The mean positive attitude scale (PAS) score was 3.85±0.58, and the mean negative attitude scale (NAS) score was 2.42±0.52. The PAS scores of female residents were higher than those of males (P=0.01). The PAS scores of residents who received communication skills training were higher than the scores of those who had not (P=0.01). The PAS scores of family medicine residents were higher and the NAS scores were lower than those of internal medicine and general surgery residents.ConclusionThe communication skill attitudes of family medicine residents were better than those of internal medicine and general surgery residents.

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A Tool to Assess Family Medicine Residents' Patient Encounters Using Secure Messaging

Journal of Graduate Medical Education ◽

10.4300/jgme-d-14-00558.1 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 649-653 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jung G. Kim ◽

Carl G. Morris ◽

Fred E. Heidrich

Keyword(s):

Family Medicine ◽

Interpersonal Communication ◽

Communication Skills ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Evaluation Process ◽

Competency Assessment ◽

Reliability Testing ◽

Validity And Reliability ◽

Secure Messaging ◽

Family Medicine Residents

ABSTRACT Background Secure messages exchanged between patients and family medicine residents via an electronic health record (EHR) could be used to assess residents' clinical and communication skills, but the mechanism is not well understood. Objective To design and test a secure messaging competency assessment for family medicine residents in a patient-centered medical home (PCMH). Methods Using the existing literature and evidence-based guidelines, we designed an assessment tool to evaluate secure messaging competency for family medicine residents training in a PCMH. Core faculty performed 2-stage validity and reliability testing (n = 2 and n = 9, respectively). A series of randomly selected EHR secure messages (n = 45) were assessed from a sample of 10 residents across all years of training. Results The secure message assessment tool provided data on a set of competencies and a framework for resident feedback. Assessment showed 10% (n = 2) of residents at the novice level, 50% (n = 10) as progressing, and 40% (n = 8) as proficient. The most common deficiencies for residents' secure messages related to communication rather than clinical competencies (n = 37 [90%] versus n = 4 [10%]). Interrater reliability testing ranged from 60% to 78% agreement and 20% to 44% disagreement. Disagreement centered on interpersonal communication factors. After 2 stages of testing, the assessment using residents' secure messages was incorporated into our existing evaluation process. Conclusions Assessing family medicine residents' secure messaging for patient encounters closed an evaluation gap in our family medicine program, and offered residents feedback on their clinical and communication skills in a PCMH.

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Training Family Medicine Residents in Effective Communication Skills While Utilizing Promotoras as Standardized Patients in OSCEs: A Health Literacy Curriculum

International Journal of Family Medicine ◽

10.1155/2015/129187 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2015 ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Patti Pagels ◽

Tiffany Kindratt ◽

Danielle Arnold ◽

Jeffrey Brandt ◽

Grant Woodfin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Literacy ◽

Family Medicine ◽

Communication Skills ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Standardized Patients ◽

Care Providers ◽

Future Health ◽

Limited Health Literacy ◽

Literacy Knowledge ◽

Family Medicine Residents

Introduction. Future health care providers need to be trained in the knowledge and skills to effectively communicate with their patients with limited health literacy. The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate a curriculum designed to increase residents’ health literacy knowledge, improve communication skills, and work with an interpreter. Materials and Methods. Family Medicine residents N=25 participated in a health literacy training which included didactic lectures and an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Community promotoras acted as standardized patients and evaluated the residents’ ability to measure their patients’ health literacy, communicate effectively using the teach-back and Ask Me 3 methods, and appropriately use an interpreter. Pre- and postknowledge, attitudes, and postdidactic feedback were obtained. We compared OSCE scores from the group that received training (didactic group) and previous graduates. Residents reported the skills they used in practice three months later. Results. Family Medicine residents showed an increase in health literacy knowledge p=0.001 and scored in the adequately to expertly performed range in the OSCE. Residents reported using the teach-back method (77.8%) and a translator more effectively (77.8%) three months later. Conclusions. Our innovative health literacy OSCE can be replicated for medical learners at all levels of training.

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Stress Management and Resiliency Training (SMART) for Family Medicine Residents at Eglin AFB

Case Medical Research ◽

10.31525/ct1-nct03936114 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

Family Medicine ◽

Stress Management ◽

Resiliency Training ◽

Family Medicine Residents

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Appraisal of the communication skills of residents in the Family Medicine Program in Central Saudi Arabia

Saudi Medical Journal ◽

10.15537/smj.2016.7.14335 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 37 (7) ◽

pp. 804-808 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Saad Alsaad ◽

Sulaiman Alshammari ◽

Turki Almogbel

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Family Medicine ◽

Communication Skills ◽

The Family

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Perceived knowledge of psychiatry and family medicine residents regarding medical management of schizophrenia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia: opportunities to refine the residency training

BMC Medical Education ◽

10.1186/s12909-021-02658-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jiangbo Ying ◽

Jinhui Wan ◽

Kang Sim ◽

Ee-Jin Darren Seah ◽

Mythily Subramaniam

Keyword(s):

Diabetes Mellitus ◽

Family Medicine ◽

Residency Training ◽

Medical Management ◽

Demographic Data ◽

Significant Proportion ◽

Psychiatry Residents ◽

Training Curriculum ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Family Medicine Residents

Abstract Background Psychiatry and Family Medicine residents frequently see patients with comorbid mental and physical disorders. Little is known about the difference in knowledge of Psychiatry residents and Family Medicine residents regarding management of common conditions they encounter. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of Psychiatry and Family Medicine residents regarding medical management of schizophrenia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia, as the findings could help to refine the training curriculum for residency training. Methods A cross-sectional survey design was used. Psychiatry and Family Medicine residents pursuing their residency in Singapore were recruited from November 2019 to June 2020. The survey questionnaire consisted of questions which assessed the knowledge regarding medical management of schizophrenia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the demographic data; T-tests or Mann-Whitney U tests to compare the differences between groups; and multiple regression analyses to assess the factors associated with Psychiatry residents’ knowledge of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia. Results Fifty-seven out of 70 (81.4%) Psychiatry residents and 58 out of 61 (95.1%) Family Medicine residents participated in the study. The majority of Psychiatry residents encountered patients with hypertension (93.0%), diabetes mellitus (87.7%) and dyslipidemia (91.2%) on a daily to weekly basis. Psychiatry residents had higher scores on questions about schizophrenia versus Family Medicine residents (mean 50.70 versus 43.28, p < 0.001). However, Psychiatry residents scored lower on questions about hypertension (mean 33.86 versus 40.98, p < 0.001), diabetes mellitus (mean 45.68 versus 49.79, p = 0.005) and dyslipidemia (mean 37.04 versus 44.31, p < 0.001). Receiving undergraduate medical education locally, compared to receiving it overseas, was associated with better knowledge of hypertension (beta = 0.515, p = 0.009) and dyslipidemia (beta = 0.559, p = 0.005); while younger age (26–30 versus > 35 and 31–35 versus > 35) was associated with better knowledge of hypertension (beta = 1.361, p = 0.002 and beta = 1.225, p = 0.003). A significant proportion of Psychiatry residents (61.4%) did not agree that the training provided to manage hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia was adequate. Similarly, majority of Family Medicine residents (62.1%) did not agree that they had adequate training to manage schizophrenia. Conclusions This study raises the awareness of Psychiatry residents’ sense of discomfort in managing hypertension, diabetes mellitus, or dyslipidemia and conversely Family Medicine residents in management of schizophrenia, which can be further addressed during the training postings within the residency programs. Future studies are needed to look at local (such as training curriculum) and systemic factors (such as practice trends and culture) in order to better align residency selection criteria and training foci with real world practice factors over time.

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