TY - JOUR
T1 - Closing the patient-oncologist communication gap
T2 - A review of historic and current efforts
AU - Pham, A. Khoa
AU - Bauer, Marianne T.
AU - Balan, Stefan
N1 - Funding Information:
This review was supported by the Dartmouth Medical School Student Research Fellowship. A.K.P. would like to thank Daniel Gologorsky, Elizabeth Huynh, and Quyen T. T. Hoang for constructive discussions.
Funding Information:
Emphasis on effective communication was found in various national organizations, including the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Centers of Excellence in Communications Research initiative [] and the Institute of Medicine, both of which named communication as a core clinical skill, the latter in its report “Improving Palliative Care for Cancer” []. In addition, the American Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), an accrediting body for US residency programs, adopted a list of six core competencies in 1999, one of which is Interpersonal and Communication Skills []. Given the ACGME's accrediting power, oncology fellowships programs were pressured to formally teach communication skills and to have objective assessment methods for fellows' interaction with patients [–]. Around this time, active research went into developing effective CST programs with the support of major grants such as the NCI's Cancer Education and Career Development Program. This grant resulted in two notable programs that use evidence-based educational techniques to develop a curriculum in oncology communication: Oncotalk and Comskil Training Program [–].
PY - 2014/3
Y1 - 2014/3
N2 - Effective communication is essential in developing any relationship - this is particularly true between oncologists and their patients. The patient-oncologist relationship is one of the most delicate in medicine, and given the strong emotions associated with cancer, successful communication plays a paramount role in the wellbeing of patients and oncologists. Significant advances to close the communication gap have occurred over the past several decades, largely by addressing deficiencies in the various stages of an oncologist's lengthy training: undergraduate medical education, residency and fellowship, and continuing medical education. Stemming from several milestones achieved by highly motivated groups of individuals, including the creation of consensus statements and guidelines by communication education experts, progress has been made to improve patient-oncologist communication. This progress is marked by the development of evidence-based communication skills training programs, such as Oncotalk and Comskil, in addition to the creation of distant-learning modalities, such as the Studying Communication in Oncologist-Patient Encounters trial. This review article outlines the history of communication education during medical education and training, and brings to light more recent efforts to promote competent, communication-minded physicians necessary for effective cancer care.
AB - Effective communication is essential in developing any relationship - this is particularly true between oncologists and their patients. The patient-oncologist relationship is one of the most delicate in medicine, and given the strong emotions associated with cancer, successful communication plays a paramount role in the wellbeing of patients and oncologists. Significant advances to close the communication gap have occurred over the past several decades, largely by addressing deficiencies in the various stages of an oncologist's lengthy training: undergraduate medical education, residency and fellowship, and continuing medical education. Stemming from several milestones achieved by highly motivated groups of individuals, including the creation of consensus statements and guidelines by communication education experts, progress has been made to improve patient-oncologist communication. This progress is marked by the development of evidence-based communication skills training programs, such as Oncotalk and Comskil, in addition to the creation of distant-learning modalities, such as the Studying Communication in Oncologist-Patient Encounters trial. This review article outlines the history of communication education during medical education and training, and brings to light more recent efforts to promote competent, communication-minded physicians necessary for effective cancer care.
KW - Communication
KW - Comskil
KW - Oncology
KW - Oncotalk
KW - Patientoncologist relationship
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84898012626&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s13187-013-0555-0
DO - 10.1007/s13187-013-0555-0
M3 - Review article
C2 - 24092531
AN - SCOPUS:84898012626
SN - 0885-8195
VL - 29
SP - 106
EP - 113
JO - Journal of Cancer Education
JF - Journal of Cancer Education
IS - 1
ER -