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Patient Communication
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Change Rotation
Introduction
The practice of medicine requires medical professionals to communicate and establish relationships with patients, their relatives, and fellow medical colleagues. This rotation guide contains concepts to help you enhance your communication skills and navigate through difficult conversations.
The following topics are addressed in this rotation guide:
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The Medical Interview and Building Rapport
Tips on the medical interview, techniques for empathic communication, tools for information gathering, and how to obtain a thorough sexual and substance use history
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Shared Decision Making
The definition of shared decision making, with online resources for implementing shared decision making
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Communication Challenges and Health Literacy
Tools to improve communication with patients who have communication difficulties (e.g., language barriers, hearing impairment) and low health literacy
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Delivering Bad News
Helpful acronyms to structure a discussion with a patient and family member
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Error Disclosure
An overview of the literature on medical error disclosure and coping with making mistakes
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Communicating with Family Members and Caregivers
A guide to improving communication between family members and caregivers
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Communicating with Colleagues and Medical Teams
Tools to improve communication between colleagues and medical teams (e.g., conflict resolution and handoff)
Other topics related to patient communication are covered in the following rotation guides:
- Geriatric Assessment and Transition of Care (Geriatrics)
- Advance Care Planning and Palliative Care (Geriatrics)
- Chronic Pain (Palliative Care — coming soon)
Rotation Prep was developed by a collaborative team of experts, educators, fellows, and residents including Ramya Ramaswami, MBBS, MRCP(UK), MPH (NEJM Fellow); Ole-Petter Hamnvik, MBBCh, BAO, MMSC (NEJM Education Editor); Molly Elmer-DeWitt, MD; Shmuel Margolin, MD and Leigh Simmons, MD. The content was reviewed by Rachel Taliercio, DO.
Last udpated: Dec. 2016
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Rachel Taliercio, DO
Rachel M. Taliercio, DO is a pulmonologist at Cleveland Clinic. She completed her internal medicine residency and pulmonary/critical care fellowship at Cleveland Clinic. She is currently the Director of Postgraduate Enrichment for the Center for Excellence in Healthcare Communication.
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Ongoing and Upcoming Discussions
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Discussion
@NEJMres360 Journal Club: Hosted by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler’s Internal Medicine Residency Program on Targeted Temperature Management for Cardiac Arrest with Nonshockable Rhythm
We have invited the residents and faculty from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler’s Internal Medicine Residency Program to lead a journal club discussion about the NEJM article, "Targeted Temperature Management for Cardiac Arrest with...
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Discussion
The Internet, You and Your Patients
More and more health information is available to patients on the Internet, and it can be tricky for patients and clinicians alike to distinguish between unhelpful, inaccurate information and true and useful information found on the Internet. Increasingly, clinicians must provide health education to clarify medical information. How can the medical...
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Discussion
Designing and Implementing Residency Quality Improvement Projects
Quality improvement (QI) is a burgeoning field in healthcare that systematically evaluates and improves the efficiency and efficacy of healthcare delivery. Resident-led QI projects are now a mandatory component of many residency training programs globally. In this...
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Featured Articles
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Expert Consult
Delivering Difficult News: Stocking the Toolbox
Communication is key in all relationships. Effective and compassionate communication by physicians and other health care providers has been demonstrated to improve clinical outcomes, treatment adherence, patient satisfaction, and to reduce malpractice claims. For health care providers...
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Expert Consult
The Art of Leading with the Right Balance as a Senior Resident
Although every resident develops his or her own style for each of these roles, the following practical strategies were discussed in a NEJM Resident 360 discussion (How to Lead a Team on the Wards: The Art to Being an Effective Resident).
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Expert Consult
Once You’ve Found the Question: How to Take the Next Steps in Research
For many medical trainees, transitioning from having a question for a research project to taking the next steps is difficult. Finding an appropriate mentor, getting ethics approval, collecting data, performing analyses, and writing up a project for publication are particularly hard when added to the pressures and stresses of medical school or residency.
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