Conversations with parents of medically ill children: a study of interactions between medical students and parents and pediatric residents and parents in the clinical setting.
BACKGROUND
The traditional remedies applied by medical schools to the perennial problem of teaching "caring competence" have been unsuccessful.


OBJECTIVE
Our purpose was to design and evaluate a simple and effective method for helping students maintain affective contact with their patients.


METHODS
Third-year medical students and pediatric residents were given the opportunity to talk informally with parents of medically ill children and reflect on the value of this experience for their learning. Trainees' opinions of the experience were measured with focus groups and a questionnaire.


RESULTS
Trainees were delighted with the experience, particularly with the following aspects: the opportunity to hear a personally relevant story told in a sincere manner, the realization that they could have an authentic interaction "even" in a medical setting, and the usefulness of the information they derived from the conversation.


CONCLUSIONS
We concluded that something unique to the conversational experience has educational value.
Tiberius
R G
RG
Department of Psychiatry and Centre for Research in Education, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. r.tiberius@utoronto.ca
Sackin
H D
HD
Tallett
S E
SE
Jacobson
S
S
Turner
J
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000739:Anecdotes as Topic; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D002665:Child Psychiatry / Q000193:education*; D002982:Clinical Clerkship; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003142:Communication; D019988:Children with Disabilities; D004645:Empathy; D017144:Focus Groups; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires