title: [Communication training using "standardized parents" for paediatricians--structured competence-based training within the scope of continuing medical education].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Following the recent amendment to the Medical Education Act in Germany (Approbationsordnung 2002) and the abolition of the preliminary approbation for early residency (AiP), the discussion increasingly focuses on the restructuring of German post-graduate medical training. The training should include well-defined learning objectives and an educational concept with a central emphasis on communication skills training. In the German-speaking countries there has as yet been no publication of a structured training course for the improvement of communication skills in the context of post-graduate education.
  
  
  METHODS
  Jointly designed by the University of Heidelberg's Clinic of Internal Medicine and Clinic of Paediatrics, this study aimed to measure the effect of a training programme for handling problems and difficult situations arising in the communication with parents and patients. 28 paediatric residents took part in a randomised controlled trial using standardized patients and video-feedback (intervention group: N = 14; control group: N = 14). Upon completion of the study, the control group also received training and was subsequently evaluated. The training course consisted of four units, lasting 90 minutes each. Both the acceptance of the training units and the self-evaluation of communication skills in dealing with parents were subject to assessment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The participating residents acknowledged the training course to be an extremely useful tool for improving their communication skills and confidence in dealing with the parents of ill children. A pre-post comparison of self-assessed communication skills revealed a significant increase in the intervention group, but not in the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The structured training course presented in the current study proved highly effective and should serve as a model for a compulsory component of a post-graduate training.
authors.affiliation: Zentrum für Kinder- und Jugendmedizin, INF 153, 69120 Heidelberg.
authors.forename: Hans Martin
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Bosse
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nikendei
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kraus
authors.forename: Sören
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Huwendiek
authors.forename: Georg Friedrich
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jünger
authors.forename: Jobst-Hendrik
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Schultz
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D003162:Competency-Based Education / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D003479:Curriculum / Q000592:standards*; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods