Medical Improv: A Novel Approach to Teaching Communication and Professionalism Skills
Authors: Katie Watson, Belinda Fu
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2016)

Ideas and Opinions18 October 2016Medical Improv: A Novel Approach to Teaching Communication and Professionalism SkillsKatie Watson, JD and Belinda Fu, MDKatie Watson, JDFrom the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, and Swedish Family Medicine Residency-First Hill and the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington. and Belinda Fu, MDFrom the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, and Swedish Family Medicine Residency-First Hill and the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M15-2239 Annals Author Insight Video - Katie Watson, JD In this video, Katie Watson, JD, offers additional insight into her article, "Medical Improv: A Novel Approach to Teaching Communication and Professionalism Skills." SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Two residents are speaking to each other in gibberish, and 2 others are struggling to translate this exchange into English—which is wonderful, because it means that they are successfully doing an improvisational theater exercise called "Foreign Movie." The constraints of this exercise focus the gibberish-speaking trainees on what they can "say" through body language and vocal inflection and focus the translators on what they can "hear" through nonverbal communication. Throughout the scene, inevitable disjunctures between intended and received messages generate laughter and insight.These physicians are doing an exercise usually reserved for actors because they're engaged in a novel training ...References1. Levinson W, Lesser CS, Epstein RM. Developing physician communication skills for patient-centered care. Health Aff (Millwood). 2010;29:1310-8. [PMID: 20606179] doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2009.0450 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Berkhof M, van Rijssen HJ, Schellart AJ, Anema JR, van der Beek AJ. Effective training strategies for teaching communication skills to physicians: an overview of systematic reviews. Patient Educ Couns. 2011;84:152-62. [PMID: 20673620] doi:10.1016/j.pec.2010.06.010 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Solet DJ, Norvell JM, Rutan GH, Frankel RM. Lost in translation: challenges and opportunities in physician-to-physician communication during patient handoffs. Acad Med. 2005;80:1094-9. [PMID: 16306279] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Stokes TA, Watson KL, Boss RD. Teaching antenatal counseling skills to neonatal providers. Semin Perinatol. 2014;38:47-51. [PMID: 24468569] doi:10.1053/j.semperi.2013.07.008 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Watson K. Perspective: Serious play: teaching medical skills with improvisational theater techniques. Acad Med. 2011;86:1260-5. [PMID: 21869654] doi:10.1097/ACM.0b013e31822cf858 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar6. Shochet R, King J, Levine R, Clever S, Wright S. 'Thinking on my feet': an improvisation course to enhance students' confidence and responsiveness in the medical interview. Educ Prim Care. 2013;24:119-24. [PMID: 23498579] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar7. Boesen KP, Herrier RN, Apgar DA, Jackowski RM. Improvisational exercises to improve pharmacy students' professional communication skills. Am J Pharm Educ. 2009;73:35. [PMID: 19513173] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar8. Misch DA. A piece of my mind. I feel witty, oh so witty. JAMA. 2016;315:345-6. [PMID: 26813204] doi:10.1001/jama.2015.16758 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar9. Gunderman RB. Education in professionalism: Improvisation. Acad Radiol. 2016;23:655-7. [PMID: 26947222] doi:10.1016/j.acra.2015.12.022 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, and Swedish Family Medicine Residency-First Hill and the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington.Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M15-2239.Corresponding Author: Katie Watson, JD, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 750 North Lake Shore Drive #636, Chicago, IL 60611; e-mail, [email protected]edu.Current Author Addresses: Prof. Watson: Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 750 North Lake Shore Drive #636, Chicago, IL 60611.Dr. Fu: Swedish Family Medicine Residency-First Hill, 1401 Madison, Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98104.Author Contributions: Conception and design: K. Watson, B. Fu.Analysis and interpretation of the data: K. Watson, B. Fu.Drafting of the article: K. Watson, B. Fu.Critical revision of the article for important intellectual content: K. Watson, B. Fu.Final approval of the article: K. Watson, B. Fu.Administrative, technical, or logistic support: K. Watson.Collection and assembly of data: K. Watson, B. Fu.This article was published at www.annals.org on 26 July 2016. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement Annals Author Insight Video - Katie Watson, JD In this video, Katie Watson, JD, offers additional insight into her article, "Medical Improv: A Novel Approach to Teaching Communication and Professionalism Skills." 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Medical Improv as a Tool for Empathy Training in Obstetrics and Gynecology ResidentsCommon Ground: Frameworks for Teaching Improvisational Ability in Medical EducationMedical Improvisation Training as a Vehicle to Improve Empathetic Communication Skills in Nutrition and Dietetics StudentsDevelopment of an empathy and clarity rating scale to measure the effect of medical improv on end-of-first-year OCSE performance: a pilot study 18 October 2016Volume 165, Issue 8Page: 591-592KeywordsCommunication in health careDisclosureEmotionsExerciseGraduate medical educationHealth careInterleukinsPatientsSystematic reviewsUndergraduates ePublished: 26 July 2016 Issue Published: 18 October 2016 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2016 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...