Doctor-patient relationship in family medicine - Educational activities planning seminar

PROBLEM ADDRESSED In addition to clinical instruction, residents need "peop le" skills that will enable them to deal with all sorts of patients in diff icult clinical situations. We planned a series of 12 seminars to teach thes e skills to first-year residents. OBJECTIVES OF PROGRAM To ask relevant questions typical of the patient-cent red approach; with empathy and respect, to encourage patients to express th eir emotions; to become more aware of one's own emotions and reactions in o ne's work as a physician; to negotiate with patients, taking into account b oth the patient's agenda and one's own. MAIN COMPONENTS OF PROGRAM Clinical problems drawn from a list of situation s likely to involve difficult contact with patients were used to achieve pr ogram objectives. Various teaching methods (discussion, brief presentation, practical demonstration, role play) were used during the four stages of sk ills development: information, demonstration, practice, and feedback. Vario us tools were used to test the program. CONCLUSION Proper planning requires ongoing exploration of objectives, cont ent, teaching methods, and evaluation. This discussion of the teaching prin ciples applied in planning our seminars might inspire others to develop sim ilar programs.