Teaching communication skills in medical education : Best practice example of an interdisciplinary seminar in radiation oncology.

Abstract

Communication with patients is challenging, especially in radiation oncology. Therefore, radiation oncology is particularly suited to sensitize medical students for this topic and to train them competently. We report on experiences with an innovative teaching project for fourth- and fifth-year medical students. The course, funded as an innovative teaching project by the medical faculty, was offered as an optional course for medical students in 2019 and again in 2022 after apandemic-related break. The curriculum and evaluation form were developed through atwo-stage Delphi process. The course consisted of, first, participation during counselling of patients prior to radiotherapy, mainly on topics with shared decision-making, and, second, a1-week interdisciplinary block seminar with practical exercises. The topics covered abroad spectrum of the competence areas defined in the National Competence-Based Learning Objectives Catalog for Medicine (NKLM). The number of participants was limited to approximately 15students because of the practical components. So far, 30students (all at least in the seventh semester or higher) have participated in the teaching project. The most frequent reasons for participation were the desire to acquire competence in breaking bad news and confidence in talking to patients. The overall evaluation of the course was very positive, with agrade of 1.08 + 0.28 (on ascale of 1 = totally agree to 5 = totally disagree) plus German grade1 (very good) to6 (very bad). Notably, participants' expectations regarding specific competencies (e.g., breaking bad news) were also met. Although the evaluation results cannot be generalized to the entirety of medical students due to the limited number of voluntary participants, the very positive evaluation shows the need for such projects among students and can also be seen as an indication that radiation oncology as apatient-centered discipline is particularly well suited to teach medical communication.