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Impact of Communication Skills Training and Medical Records in the Practice of Patient-Centered Care

ABSTRACT

Introduction

The practice of comprehensive clinical care of the individual is a challenge faced by medical educators, educational institutions, and researchers seeking to contribute to the development of students’ educational skills that combine knowledge, skills and attitudes for this model.

Objective

To evaluate the impact of communication skills training in the practice of the clinical method of comprehensive clinical care, with or without the use of a specific medical record.

Methods

Forty-six students in the 7th Period of medical school participated in the study. A combination of educational activities was used to facilitate the acquisition of communication skills for comprehensive clinical care, including: a modeling example, followed by individual reflection and discussion, an interactive lecture, and the use of a specific medical appointment for comprehensive clinical care of the individual (RACIP). The study was divided into four Phases: Phase 1 − Pre-training: filming of clinical care in a simulated environment, carried out by the 46 students, using the current medical appointment in the HC-UFMG. Phase 2 − Training: students were divided into three groups: G1: performed an educational activity not related to clinical care; G2 and G3: received communication skills training. Phase 3 − Evaluation: filming of a consultation in a simulated environment, performed by all the groups, with G1 and G3 using RACIP, and G2, the current medical appointment model. Phase 4 − Feedback and learning opportunity for all the groups. The videos of the clinic visits performed by the students, pre- and post-training, were evaluated by a panel consisting of three evaluators, using the AVACIP instrument (evaluation of comprehensive clinical care of the individual). This takes into account five domains: the initial approach to the consultation; the patient’s expectations; the patient’s perspective of his/her illness; behavior and lifestyle habits; use of complementary propaedeutic and therapeutic alliance.

Results

The total positive attitude score for each group was higher in Phase 3 than in Phase 1 (p = 0.001), showing that all the strategies promoted an improvement in communication skills, but there were no differences between groups in each phase (p > 0.310). Analyzing the scores by domain, it was observed that G3 performed better than the others.

Conclusion

The communication skills training and the use of the RACIP improved the students’ performance in relation to comprehensive clinical care of the individual.

Communication Skills Training; Simulated Patients; Patient-Centered Care

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