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Table 1 The six most important communication skills for different videotaped clinical scenarios identified by three experts

From: Impact of postgraduate training on communication skills teaching: a controlled study

Inpatient

Good skills

Poor skills

Outpatient

Good skills

Poor skills

Explaining a procedure

Establishing initial rapport

Not exploring patient’s perspectives

Explaining a diagnosis

Setting the medical agenda

Not exploring patient’s perspectives

 

Using clear language

No chunking nor checking

 

Using clear language

No chunking or checking

  

No empathy

  

No empathy

  

Not checking patient’s understanding at the end

  

Not checking patient’s understanding at the end

Breaking bad news

Warning

No agenda setting

Managing time

Establishing initial rapport

Not negotiating the agenda

 

Exploring patient’s perspectives

Using jargon

 

Medical agenda setting

Not announcing the duration of the consultation

 

Empathy

Not informing appropriately

 

Chunking

No empathy

Discussing with a family

Summarizing the context

Not negotiating each other’s agenda

Managing a difficult consultation

Agenda setting

Not exploring patient’s perspectives

 

Remaining calm

Not exploring each other’s worries

 

Negotiating a common solution

Not acknowledging the problem

  

No empathy

  

No empathy

  

Not negotiating a common solution with the patient

  

No chunking or checking