Display options
Share it on

BMC Med Educ. 2020 Jul 09;20(1):215. doi: 10.1186/s12909-020-02074-9.

Remediation of learners struggling with communication skills: a systematic review.

BMC medical education

Deema Al-Sheikhly, Linda Östlundh, Thurayya Arayssi

Affiliations

  1. Division of Continuing Professional Development, Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar, Doha, Qatar. [email protected].
  2. National Medical Library, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, UAE.
  3. Medical Education and Continuing Professional Development, Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar, Doha, Qatar.

PMID: 32646405 PMCID: PMC7350558 DOI: 10.1186/s12909-020-02074-9

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Communication skills is a core area of competency for healthcare practitioners. However, trainees deficient in those skills are not identified early enough to address the deficiency. Furthermore, faculty often struggle to identify effective remediation strategies for those who fail to meet expectations. We undertook a systematic review to determine which assessment methods are appropriate to identify learners that struggle with communication skills and the strategies used to remediate them.

METHODS: The literature was searched from January 1998 through to May 2019 using academic databases and grey literature. Trainees were defined as healthcare practitioners in undergraduate, graduate and continuing education. Characteristics of studies, assessment and intervention strategies and outcomes were synthesized qualitatively and summarized in tables.

RESULTS: From an initial 1636 records, 16 (1%) studies met the review criteria. Majority of the learners were medical students. A few studies (44%) included students from other disciplines, residents and physicians in practice. The remediation programs, in the studies, ranged from 1 week to 1 year. Around half of the studies focused solely on learners struggling with communication skills. The majority of studies used a format of a clinical OSCE to identify struggling learners. None of the studies had a single intervention strategy with the majority including an experiential component with feedback.

CONCLUSIONS: A few studies collectively described the diagnosis, remediation intervention and the assessment of the outcomes of remediation of communication skills. For a remediation strategy to be successful it is important to ensure: (i) early identification and diagnosis, (ii) the development of an individualized plan and (iii) providing reassessment with feedback to the learner.

Keywords: Assessment; Communication skills; Healthcare practitioners; Intervention; Learners; Remediation; Systematic review

References

  1. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2006 Jul;15(3):795-815 - PubMed
  2. Med Educ. 2008 Jan;42(1):104-12 - PubMed
  3. Am J Crit Care. 2002 May;11(3):200-9 - PubMed
  4. Acad Med. 2005 Jun;80(6):533-40 - PubMed
  5. J Med Imaging Radiat Sci. 2012 Jun;43(2):112-120 - PubMed
  6. Korean J Med Educ. 2013 Jun;25(2):123-9 - PubMed
  7. Acad Med. 2007 Oct;82(10 Suppl):S69-72 - PubMed
  8. Acad Med. 2009 May;84(5):669-76 - PubMed
  9. Med Educ. 2008 Nov;42(11):1118-9 - PubMed
  10. J Grad Med Educ. 2016 Feb;8(1):18-23 - PubMed
  11. Acad Med. 2009 May;84(5):651-4 - PubMed
  12. Acad Radiol. 1997 Jul;4(7):527-33 - PubMed
  13. JAMA. 2007 Sep 5;298(9):1002-9 - PubMed
  14. Acad Med. 1990 Sep;65(9 Suppl):S63-7 - PubMed
  15. Teach Learn Med. 2001 Fall;13(4):232-9 - PubMed
  16. Med Teach. 2009 Dec;31(12):e555-9 - PubMed
  17. Acad Radiol. 2005 Jul;12(7):894-900 - PubMed
  18. Acad Med. 2009 Dec;84(12):1822-32 - PubMed
  19. Am J Surg. 2009 Mar;197(3):397-402 - PubMed
  20. PLoS Med. 2009 Jul 21;6(7):e1000097 - PubMed
  21. Health Aff (Millwood). 2002 Sep-Oct;21(5):103-11 - PubMed
  22. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2002 Jan;156(1):14-9 - PubMed
  23. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2001 Oct;2(4):324-8 - PubMed
  24. Patient Educ Couns. 2005 Sep;58(3):265-70 - PubMed
  25. Acad Med. 2013 Jan;88(1):111-6 - PubMed
  26. Acad Med. 2008 Sep;83(9):876-81 - PubMed
  27. Pediatrics. 2006 Mar;117(3):649-57 - PubMed
  28. Crit Care Med. 2000 Aug;28(8):3044-9 - PubMed
  29. BMC Med Educ. 2013 Jul 08;13:95 - PubMed
  30. Soc Sci Med. 2005 Oct;61(7):1516-28 - PubMed
  31. Med Teach. 2014 Sep;36(9):799-803 - PubMed
  32. Acad Med. 2004 Jun;79(6):495-507 - PubMed
  33. Am J Surg. 2008 Nov;196(5):657-62 - PubMed
  34. CMAJ. 1992 Oct 15;147(8):1149-52 - PubMed
  35. Pediatrics. 2005 Oct;116(4):884-90 - PubMed
  36. J Surg Educ. 2012 Jan-Feb;69(1):118-25 - PubMed
  37. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2000 Sep-Oct;79(5):478-80 - PubMed
  38. J Contin Educ Health Prof. 2009 Fall;29(4):220-34 - PubMed
  39. Patient Educ Couns. 1999 Jun;37(2):191-5 - PubMed
  40. Fam Med. 2005 Mar;37(3):184-92 - PubMed
  41. BMC Med Educ. 2010 Mar 17;10:24 - PubMed
  42. Acad Emerg Med. 2011 Oct;18 Suppl 2:S97-103 - PubMed
  43. JAMA. 2002 Jan 9;287(2):226-35 - PubMed
  44. Conn Med. 2011 Oct;75(9):537-40 - PubMed
  45. Acad Med. 1997 Aug;72(8):715-21 - PubMed
  46. Med Teach. 2006 Aug;28(5):443-6 - PubMed
  47. J Nurs Adm. 2002 Jan;32(1):5-6 - PubMed
  48. JAMA. 2003 Jan 1;289(1):93 - PubMed
  49. Med Educ. 2013 Mar;47(3):242-51 - PubMed
  50. Acad Emerg Med. 2010 Oct;17 Suppl 2:S95-103 - PubMed
  51. Acad Med. 1999 Jan;74(1):13-8 - PubMed

MeSH terms

Publication Types