Enhancement of Communication Skills with Adolescents

TRAIN THE TRAINER: ENHANCING COMMUNICATION WITH ADOLESCENT PATIENTS

MSR, the Israel Center for Medical Simulation

An International Seminar

First Announcement

June 2008 at MSR

Sheba Medical Center, Israel

We are pleased to offer the opportunity to learn how to enhance communication skills with adolescent patients for physicians who teach adolescent medicine at all levels of professional development. In this seminar, participants interact with simulated patients and their parents (role-playing actors) in scenarios that present typical health problems of teenagers. Simulated-patient-based programs are recognized as an effective educational modality to bridge the gap between theoretical learning (textbooks, lectures, and clinical discussions) and practice via experiential training with simulated patients.

The seminar is a collaborative initiative developed by senior clinicians and educators from MSR, the Israel Center for Medical Simulation and the Israel Society of Adolescent Medicine.

MSR

MSR, the Israel Center for Medical Simulation is a world leader in simulation-based medical training. It works to reduce errors and improve patient-safety by developing and incorporating simulation within the field of healthcare education and clinical practice. MSR uses a wide spectrum of medical simulation technologies including simulated patients, task trainers, virtual reality surgical simulators and computerized physiological mannequins.

Clinical and communication skills are taught by proactively exposing trainees to challenging clinical and humanistic encounters. So far, over 27,000 healthcare professionals have been trained at the center since its establishment in 2001, and over 300 physicians specifically in communication with adolescents.

SEMINAR DESCRIPTION:

Train the Trainer: Communication with adolescent patients is offered to healthcare professionals teaching and working in diverse academic and clinical healthcare settings. The seminar is designed around case scenarios chosen to illustrate particular challenges in communicating with adolescent patients and their parents. Participants will be involved in several simulated conversations with patients and family members, while colleagues observe through one-way windows. After a few sessions, participants will take part in a facilitated debriefing, assimilating educational points. Upon completion of the seminar, each participant will receive a formal certificate of participation in the train-the-trainer workshop.

OBJECTIVES:

This seminar will focus on the various approaches toward teaching communication skills of healthcare providers with adolescents including:

 Simulated-patient provider encounters in individual and group sessions

 Coaching techniques for improving communication skills

 Analyzing methods of communication exercises

 Applicability of various methodologies in clinical and academic environments

The topics that will be taught include:

 Physical and psychosocial system review

 Managing parental involvement

 Confidentiality assurance

 Sexuality

 Risky behaviors

 Nutrition and eating disorders

 Emotional disturbances

 School problems

 Abuse

 Chronic illness

 Transition to adult healthcare

COST:
Tuition for the 3-day seminar is $750 including:

 Participation in all the seminar's academic activities

 Digital handouts of all seminar's activities

 DVD's of recorded encounters and group discussions, to be further used in the participant's own academic environment

 Coffee breaks and luncheons for all 3 days

Not including airfare and accommodation

For questions, contact: Daniel Hardoff, MD –