Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29228940›Full record

ArticleBMC medical education2017

Communicating wisely: teaching residents to communicate effectively with patients and caregivers about unnecessary tests.

Geetha Mukerji, Adina Weinerman, Sarah Schwartz, Adelle Atkinson, Lynfa Stroud, Brian M Wong

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical education, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.4field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Communication Course for Pediatric Providers Improves Self-efficacy.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2018
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Geetha MukerjiDepartment of Medicine, University of Toronto and Women's College Hospital Institute of Health Systems Solutions and Virtual Care, 76 Grenville Street, Room 3414, Toronto, ON, M5S 1B2, Canada. Geetha.mukerji@wchospital.ca.
Adina WeinermanDepartment of Medicine, University of Toronto and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Sarah SchwartzDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Toronto and Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Adelle AtkinsonDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Toronto and Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Lynfa StroudDepartment of Medicine, University of Toronto and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Brian M WongDepartment of Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
University of Toronto · CAHospital for Sick Children · CASunnybrook Health Science Centre · CAWomen's College Hospital · CA

Funding

University of Toronto Educational Development Fund
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWith rising healthcare costs and a focus on quality, there is a growing need to promote resource stewardship in medical education. Physicians need to be able to communicate effectively with patients/caregivers seeking tests and treatments that are unnecessary. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of an interactive workshop on residents' knowledge of resource stewardship and communication skills when counseling patients/caregivers about requests for unnecessary testing.

methodsParticipants were 83 Internal Medicine and Pediatrics residents at the University of Toronto in 2014-15. The evaluation compared resource stewardship knowledge and communication skills of 57 (69%) residents that attended the resource stewardship workshop to 26 residents (31%) who did not. Knowledge and communication skills assessment consisted of a written test and a structured assessment using standardized patient raters, respectively. A linear regression was applied to determine predictors of overall communication skills performance.

resultsWorkshop attendance resulted in better performance on the knowledge test (4.3 ± 1.9 vs. 3.1 ± 1.7 out of 8, p = 0.01), but not better performance on the communication skills assessment (4.1 ± 0.8 vs. 4.0 ± 0.9 out of 5, p = 0.56). Higher training level (p = 0.01) and knowledge test scores (p = 0.046) were independent predictors of better overall communication skills, after adjusting for gender, training level, workshop attendance, knowledge and self-reported prior feedback on communication skills.

conclusionsAn interactive workshop can improve knowledge of resource stewardship, but improving communication skills with patients/caregivers about unnecessary testing may require additional training or reinforcement in the clinical learning environment. These teaching and assessment approaches can support the integration of education on resource stewardship into medical education.

Indexed as

Internship and ResidencyCaregiversClinical CompetenceCommunicationFemaleHealth Care CostsHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeHumansMalePhysician-Patient RelationsQuality Assurance, Health CareUnnecessary ProceduresCommunicationHigh-value careMedical educationResource stewardship

Identifiers

PMID29228940
PMCPMC5725805
OpenAlexW2771896849

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.