Are we preparing future doctors to deal with emotionally challenging situations? Analysis of a medical curriculum

Objective Skilful communication by doctors is necessary for healthcare delivery during emotionally challenging situations. This study analyses a medical curriculum for the frequency and intensity of teaching content on communication in emotionally challenging situations. Methods A questionnaire with 31 questions (“EmotCog31”) was used to evaluate teaching sessions at 17 departments of a medical school for one semester. Results Teaching content on communication in emotionally challenging situations was observed in 62 of 724 (∼nine percent) teaching sessions. Fifty-six percent of these sessions were within psychosocial specialisations. Lecturers used mental diseases as teaching topics four times more than somatic diseases. Forty-two percent of the 62 sessions were large-group while fifty-eight percent were small-group, interactive sessions. Clinical examples were used in sixty-nine percent of these sessions. Eighty-one percent of the handouts provided and sixty-six percent of simulated patient scenarios used were rated as helpful. Two-thirds of teaching sessions were rated positively when they included practical context. Conclusion There was a considerable lack of teaching on communication skills in an emotional context. Teaching was limited to psychosocial specialties, reducing the impact of available knowledge for other medical specialties. Practice Implications More interactive, practically oriented teaching methods are useful for teaching emotional communication skills.