Accepted Type
Oral
Code
OA1-1-1
Acceptance Declaration
Accept
Additional Information
I declare I have no actual or potential conflict of interest in relation to this program.
Was this work accepted for CCME 2020?
no
Category
General Call (Workshop, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation)
Type
Oral
Sub Type
Education Research
Will the presenter be a:
Resident
Affiliation
Considered for Poster
yes
Title
Results From a Theater-Based Communication Course for Medical Residents in the COVID Era
Length of Presentation
Background/Purpose
Communication underlies physicians' scope of practice. The necessary use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), especially masks, as a result of COVID, may make communication with patients more challenging and could risk eroding the patient-physician alliance. We previously created and taught a theater-based communication skills course for physicians, medical students, and nursing students. For this study, we taught our course with all participants wearing masks and practicing social distancing. We sought to assess if our curriculum could still be successful in developing communication skills deemed central to clinical practice.
Methods
Ten first-year emergency medicine residents at a tertiary care, University-associated, urban center participated in a one-hour workshop. A questionnaire was distributed to participants to rate their agreement with statements about communication and interpersonal skills developed. Survey participation was voluntary and confidential.
Results
For this IRB-approved study, 100% of participants answered the survey. All agreed or strongly agreed the workshop developed their skills of self-awareness, observation, non-verbal communication, sensitivity to emotions expressed by others, breaking bad news, communication with "difficult" patients, situational awareness, status awareness, teamwork, trust, presence in the moment, mindfulness, felt the exercises provided them tools to improve patient-physician and interprofessional communication, and enjoyed the experience.
Conclusion
An acting-based workshop is effective in improving communication and interpersonal skills as determined by self-evaluation, despite the use of masks. This holds relevance as residency programs adapt their curriculum to restricted learning modalities brought about by COVID.
Keyword 1
Communication
Keyword 2
Theater in Medicine
Keyword 3
Acting
Level of Training
General
Abstract Themes
Curriculum
Curriculum
Competency-Based Education
Additional Theme (First choice)
Physician & Medical Student Health and Well-being
Additional Theme (Second Choice)
Professionalism
Additional Theme (Third Choice)
Postgraduate
Authors
Presenter
Alexis del Vecchio
Term 1
Yes
Term 2
Yes
Term 3
Yes
Term 4
Yes
Term 5
Yes
