Disconnections between medical education and medical practice: A neglected dilemma

Motivating change in resident language use through narrative medicine workshops

BACKGROUND

There are many ways that students and trainees learn to talk about patients. The way trainees and physicians use language during clinical care is important, as labeling patients can have adverse effects on patient safety. Communication is considered a core competency by The Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Past research has shown that participants in narrative medicine curricula report developing stronger communication skills however it is not clear how these workshops motivated trainees to use language differently during patient care. To explore this, we interviewed second-year residents in academic year 19-20 about their experiences both in participating in narrative medicine workshops and giving patient care.

METHODS

The framing context for this constructivist thematic analysis is a series of narrative medicine workshops facilitated for interns in an internal medicine residency program at a large academic medical center during the 18-19 academic year. We developed a semi-structured interview study that allowed residents to reflect on their experiences in these workshops. Eighteen out of 60 residents (30%) were interviewed.

RESULTS

We found that sessions regarding language use in patient care shaped how interns thought about and used language during clinical work, a finding that arose spontaneously during interviews.

CONCLUSIONS

Our research suggests that workshops aimed specifically at addressing the use of language in healthcare can have meaningful impact on trainees. Our study makes a unique contribution to the scholarship by suggesting that training in narrative medicine can lead to a change in the way that trainees use language during their clinical work.

Risk Reduction of COVID-19 Pandemic in Pakistan

This study attempt to examine the risk reduction mechanism of the COVID-19 outbreak in Pakistan. World Health Organization (WHO) declared the emergency and provided guidelines to reduce the risk of a pandemic. Thus, people tried to adopt multiple health safety measures to reduce the risk of a pandemic outbreak. Therefore, this study was designed to conduct an online survey technique to collect information from 1264 individuals in Pakistan. The rationale to select the technique was based on the pandemic situations in the country i.e. COVID-19. Moreover, it was used to main social distancing and following the health safety measures. Thus, a well-structured questionnaire was administered based on an attitudinal scale and google form was used. The inclusion criteria were defined on the questionnaire such as an independent age bracket (18-60), resident of Pakistan, using social media, and literate. The response was stopped after reaching the sample at 1264 participants. The study findings reveal that social isolation, social distancing, and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) had a significant positive impact on risk reduction of COVID-19 among individuals. Moreover, hand and respiratory hygienic along with the risk of infection also significantly contributing to minimizing the pandemic outbreak.