Found in translation: exporting patient-centered communication and small group teaching skills to China.
The Chinese Medical Doctor's Association asked us to develop a train-the-trainers program in doctor-patient communication and in teaching skills for a select group of Chinese health care professionals, who would then serve as trainers for practicing physicians throughout China. The request came in the context of increasing doctor-patient friction related, in part, to the dissolution of the socialist health care safety net in China. In this article we recount the implementation of our 5-day training program in Beijing. We explore cross-cultural issues that arose in presenting the program's two principal training domains: small group teaching and patient-centered doctor-patient communication. We also explore the linguistic challenges we encountered as non-Chinese speaking teachers. Finally, we reflect on the lessons learned from this project that may be of value to others called upon to export Western doctor-patient communications training to other cultures. In this age of increasing globalization, cross-cultural sharing of medical education represents a growing trend.
Blatt
Benjamin
B
George Washington University School of Medicine, CLASS Clinical Skills Center and Office of Interdisciplinary Medical Education, 900 23rd Street, N.W., Washington, DC 22037, USA. msdbcb@gwumc.edu
Kallenberg
Gene
G
Lang
Forrest
F
Mahoney
Patrick
P
Patterson
JoEllen
J
Dugan
Beverly
B
Sun
Shaobang
S
D002681:China; D003142:Communication; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing / Q000379:methods*; D005180:Faculty, Medical; D005550:Foreign Medical Graduates; D006801:Humans; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000379:methods*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D013192:Staff Development