A Novel Curriculum on Writing Simulated Patient Cases for Teaching Communication Skills (FR482D)

Abstract

•Discuss the importance of written SP cases in communication training.•Describe the three main components of a SP case.•Compose educational aims and at least two objectives for a new SP case.•Draft a SP case including at least 90% of the case requirements. Patient communication is a crucial skill that impacts how patients cope with illness. The most effective communication training is supervised practice with simulated patients (SPs), trained actors who portray patients based on written SP cases. Despite the importance of communication training, little guidance exists on how to write cases. Over 90% of communication educators in our national survey desired instruction on case-writing. We aimed to develop a SP case-writing curriculum for communication educators nationwide. The goal is to improve written SP cases, thereby enhancing communication training. Clinicians who teach communication skills with SPs We developed a guided case-development workbook with input from local and national communication educators. We piloted this curriculum in the Teaching Communication Skills course for Masters of Medical Education students at the University of Pittsburgh. The primary outcome was the number of 24 case requirements students' SP cases fulfilled as compared to cases written after a previous, lecture-based curriculum. Secondary outcomes were ease of portrayal as evaluated by an experienced SP and student-reported confidence and satisfaction. Seventeen students independently reviewed the case-development workbook. In class, students divided into four groups to write new cases. These four cases were compared to eight cases from three years of the previous curriculum. Students completed pre- and post-curriculum surveys. Cases developed with the workbook curriculum incorporated 26% more case requirements than those from the lecture-based curriculum. There was no statistical improvement on ease of portrayal. Students reported significant increases in confidence writing cases and high satisfaction with the curriculum. The guided case-development workbook is an effective method for teaching new communication educators how to write SP cases. The workbook curriculum resulted in more comprehensive SP cases than a previous, lecture-based curriculum. Given that this study was limited to a single institution, assessing effectiveness across institutions is an area for further research.