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Summer
2002, vol. 44, No. 1/2 |
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| New Video to Improve Communication Skills in Medical Practice | ||||
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The Department of Family Medicine (DFM) at AUBMC has just published a new
teaching tool to help health professionals improve communication skills.
The video and accompanying manual entitled "Communication Skills in
Medical Practice: A Video Companion for Health Professionals," was
created to improve skills needed in the medical interview, one of the most
important components of doctor-patient interaction. Although the medical interview is the most common activity in the profession, curricula time allocated for communication skills in medical schools is less than 2%. Other data reveals that, on average, doctors interrupt patients 12-18 seconds after they begin to speak. Proper teaching of communication skills has several advantages. A good doctor-patient relationship results in a better ability to reach a diagnosis, improves patients' compliance and outcome, and reduces both medico-legal problems and unnecessary expenses. In 1994, DFM installed a video monitoring system. This allowed faculty of the department to give medical residents immediate feedback on their communication skills without being with them in the examining room. Furthermore, it provided students and residents with the opportunity to record their interviews and get feedback on their performance. In 1997, an amateur recorded three patient-doctor scenarios which were shown to more than a hundred medical students. Feedback from this group showed that the students wanted to see more scenarios and view an improved quality of the recording. Last month, DFM published Communication Skills in Medical Practice: A Video Companion for Health Professionals. The first teaching tool produced in this part of the world in such a format, 30 people |
contributed
to the project that took some 94 working days of preparation. Funding was
provided by the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research and technical
support was assumed by the Arab Resource Center for Popular Arts/ Al-Jana.
The video-tape includes twelve clips that cover the basic skills needed in the medical interview, with the recorded material based on actual interviews. The first segment in each clip depicts a medical interview conducted in the Arabic language, and is used as a trigger for discussion as it contains one or more interviewing problems. The second segment includes suggestions on how to improve the interview. To reinforce the teaching messages, the same scenario is shown with the suggested improvements. The target audience for this tool is health professionals who speak Arabic. Besides teaching communication skills in an effective way, the video promotes the teaching image of the American University of Beirut. The video has been recommended by Regional Advisor for mental health in the World Health Organization, Eastern Mediterranean Region, Dr. Ahmed Mohit; Chairman of Family Medicine in Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals of Cleveland, Dr. George Kikano; and Secretary General of the Arab Board of Medical Specialization, Dr. Moufid Jokhadar. The video and the manual are sold together for US $40.00 (excluding postage) and can be ordered in either an English/Arabic version or an all-Arabic version from the DFM by e-mail at HYPERLINK "mailto:famed@aub.edu.lb" famed@aub.edu.lb or by fax: + 961 1 371 123. Proceeds from the sale will go to the creation of a new video and a manual focusing on communication skills for difficult situations in medical practice. |
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These pages are subjected to AUB's
General disclaimer
and copyrights - The AUB Bulletin is the official news publication of the American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon. - It is published monthly by the Office of Information and Public Relations, Diana Sabbagh Building, Room 111. Tel.: 01-353228, Fax: 01-363234 or AUB extension: 2670/1, e-mail: ifkhoury@aub.edu.lb or information@aub.edu.lb - Responsible Editor, Dirctor of Information and Public Relations: Ibrahim Khoury - Deputy Editor and Layout Designer: Henry Matthews - Advisor Nabeel G. Ashkar - Associate Editor: Elain Larwood - Web Design: iMAD Zeineddine — e-mail: imadsz@hotmail.com |