title: What Residents Say About Communicating with Patients: A Preliminary Examination of Doctor-to-Doctor Interaction.
abstract: This article describes the implementation and initial assessment of a training blog created within a family medicine department and used as a feedback mechanism for residents. First-year residents (n = 7) at a large private East Coast university hospital had an interaction with a patient recorded and posted to a training blog. The residents then watched this, and posted a reaction to their interaction with the patient. Within this reaction the residents offered self-reflection on the experience and were provided an opportunity to solicit advice from their colleagues to improve their communicative strategies and style. Once the reaction was posted to the blog, other residents watched the videotaped interaction, read the self-assessment written by the resident, and responded as part of their communication training. Content analysis of the messages suggests that the residents are socially skilled. They offer each other advice, provide each other with emotional and esteem social support, and use techniques such as self-deprecation in what appears to be a strategic manner. Perhaps most interesting is that they tend to identify the problems and difficulties they experience during patient-physician interactions in an apparent effort to deflect responsibility from the practicing physician. Patient challenges raised by residents included talkativeness, noncompliance, health literacy, and situational constraints.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Communication , University of Dayton.
authors.forename: James D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.affiliation: b Department of Communication , Culture, and Technology, Georgetown University.
authors.forename: Jeanine W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.affiliation: c Department of Family Medicine , Georgetown University Medical Center.
authors.forename: Elise
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.affiliation: c Department of Family Medicine , Georgetown University Medical Center.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roett
authors.affiliation: b Department of Communication , Culture, and Technology, Georgetown University.
authors.forename: Yuting
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liao
mesh_terms: D057218:Blogging; D003142:Communication; D005194:Family Practice; D000068156:Formative Feedback; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D007396:Internship and Residency; D007400:Interprofessional Relations