title: Interns' perspectives about communicating bad news to patients: a qualitative study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Communicating bad news to patients and families is an essential skill for physicians but can be difficult for interns. Very little is known about skills in this area for interns in developing countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two focus groups, consisting of a total of 12 interns, were conducted in the Seth G.S. Medical College and KEM Hospital in Mumbai, India. The grounded theory approach was used to identify common themes and concepts, which related to: (1) barriers in communicating bad news, (2) interns' confidence in communicating bad news, (3) interns' perceptions about their need for such training and (4) interns' suggested methods for training.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Interns described barriers in time constraints, language, their personal fears, patients' illiteracy, crowded wards with no privacy and lack of training. All interns lacked confidence in breaking news of death, but seven were confident in breaking bad news about chronic diseases or cancers. Subjects reported they had received very little classroom teaching or formal instruction in this area, though they had had opportunities to observe a few instances of breaking bad news. They expressed need for increased focus on communication skills curriculum in the form of case discussions, workshops and small group teaching, in addition to clinical observation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Interns in our school in Mumbai reported inadequate training and low comfort and skill in communicating bad news and expressed need for focused training.
authors.affiliation: KEM Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. avisupe@gmail.com
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Supe
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D003144:Communication Barriers; D003479:Curriculum; D003625:Data Collection; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000379:methods*; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007396:Internship and Residency; D007858:Learning; D005791:Patient Care / Q000523:psychology; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013637:Tape Recording; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*; D014342:Truth Disclosure