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Teaching Communication Skills

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Medical Education in Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine

Part of the book series: Respiratory Medicine ((RM))

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Abstract

Technological advances have transformed our approach to caring for patients with serious medical conditions in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine (PCCM). Despite life-saving innovations, PCCM clinicians must inevitably counsel patients and their families through serious medical decision-making. PCCM clinicians are charged with leading clinically complex discussions with empathic, patient- and family-centered communication skills that may have tremendous impact on the course of care. While it is recognized that formal instruction, intentional practice, and structured feedback using a familiar framework enriched with key empathic phrases improve the ability of clinicians to align with patients and families through these conversations, this approach is still underdeveloped and underutilized in PCCM training. We review the evidence behind existing frameworks applied to PCCM settings, and discuss practical considerations in implementing interpersonal communication skills (ICS) training for PCCM trainees and faculty members. A lifelong commitment to ICS development is vital to provide high-quality, empathic care, to develop and retain master PCCM clinicians, and to expand scholarly work in this area.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Jennifer D. Possick

  2. Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, VA Connecticut Healthcare System and Yale University, West Haven, CT, USA

    Kathleen M. Akgün

Authors
  1. Jennifer D. Possick
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  2. Kathleen M. Akgün
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Correspondence to Jennifer D. Possick .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Patricia A. Kritek

  2. Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA

    Jeremy B. Richards

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Possick, J.D., Akgün, K.M. (2019). Teaching Communication Skills. In: Kritek, P., Richards, J. (eds) Medical Education in Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine. Respiratory Medicine. Humana, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10680-5_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10680-5_11

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-10679-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-10680-5

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