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Study Suggests Neonatologists Need More, Better Communication Training
The results of a survey of neonatology fellows appearing in the September issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine suggests that more needs to be done to teach future neonatologists communication skills, MedPage Today reports. In a Web survey conducted in 2008 of 140 physicians in their final year of a neonatology fellowship by a researcher from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 41 percent reported that they had received no formal communication training, and 93 percent indicated that the training that they did receive should be improved. In addition, 42 percent of survey respondents reported that they had never participated in a specific didactic conference or course aimed at teaching them how to deliver difficult information to parents, and 75 percent had never participated in a relevant role play or simulated patient scenario. Moreover, just 6 percent had participated in a clinical rotation that focused on developing communication skills. Despite the lack of communication training, 94 percent of survey respondents said that they were always or sometimes required to lead family meetings to discuss care goals. In most instances, attending physicians did not participate in the meetings or provide feedback. On a seven-point Likert scale, with seven indicating great importance, the survey respondents rated the importance of communication skills training to be a 6.3. Speaking to the reasons behind the lack of training, a physician at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine hypothesizes that it could stem from faculty being unsure of how to teach communication skills or perhaps "a result of intense concentration on a curative approach to care." (Smith, MedPage Today, 9/8/09; Boss et al., Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, September 2009 [subscription required])