A team approach in communication instruction: a qualitative description.
OBJECTIVE
To establish communication instructional goals and objectives (IGOs) adapted to a postgraduate surgical residency program.


METHODS
The curriculum that was tested in the current study is predicated on the following concepts: Leadership is a communication skill, not a medical skill; perception and interpretation are individual events and always will be imperfect; team is a relational-based concept, not a medical one; the concept of a perfect world is unrealistic and should not be the focus of any communication skills training; and change cannot occur locally if it is not nurtured globally.


RESULTS
A communication curriculum designed to teach "affirming communication" as well as to focus on how acquiring the knowledge and skill associated with competent communication can result in positive organizational and clinical outcomes were tested using subjects from a rural trauma network. Statistically significant findings were observed regarding knowledge acquisition as well as perceptions and attitudes toward communication.


CONCLUSIONS
Any communication curriculum designed to educate needs to be grounded theoretically in both communication and medicine. Personnel from both disciplines need to be consulted in efforts to design a curriculum based in the social sciences yet applicable to surgery.
Polack
Edward P
EP
Department of Surgery, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506-9238, USA. epolack@hsc.wvu.edu
Avtgis
Theodore A
TA
Rossi
Daniel C
DC
Shaffer
Linda
L
D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards; D003142:Communication; D003479:Curriculum; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D017145:Models, Educational; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012577:Schools, Medical; D014903:West Virginia