Communication Flashcards
Clinical Skills
How should one enter the exam room and begin the medical interview?
1. ______ before entering
2. Introduce self by ______ and position
3. Use patient’s ______
1. Knock before entering
2. Introduce self by name and position
3. Use patient’s name
Clinical Skills
In general, how should you interact with the patient during the medical interview?
1. Sit and maintain eye contact
2. Ask open-ended questions
3. Listen actively
4. Focus on patient perspective/needs
5. Be warm and empathetic and non-judgmental
Clinical Skills
Give an example of the type of question you can use to begin the medical interview.
So, what brings you here today?
(open-ended; allows the patient to form her own thoughts in an organic manner)
Clinical Skills
How should you address the patient?
As Mr. _________, Mrs. _________, or Ms. _________ (surname)
(or as requested)
Clinical Skills
Why should physicians not be afraid of silence?
It allows space for the patient to form their thoughts and fill in relevant, additional information.
Clinical Skills
Before performing any physical exam, what should you do?
1. Explain what you will be doing.
2. Give a simple explanation as to the reason for the exam.
3. Ask permission to proceed
Clinical Skills
Outline the FIFE method of eliciting the patient’s perspective in regards to their illness.
Feelings
Ideas
Function
Expectations
Clinical Skills
What should be done to ensure the patient feels heard and that the physician has an accurate picture of the patient’s perspective and understanding?
1. Reflect and echo statements
2. Clarify
3. Summarize periodically
Clinical Skills
Outline the NURSE method of eliciting the patient’s emotional response to their illness.
Name the emotion
Understand the emotion
Respect the patient
Support the patient
Explore the emotion
Clinical Skills
How can you encourage your patient to ask questions and bring up additional concerns?
Explicitly tell them to from the beginning of the interview.
Allow space for silence and reflection.
Clinical Skills
What should you do at the end of the clinical interview (or at other moments like the end of the HPI)?
Summarize the main data points.
Re-outline the plan.
Clinical Skills
True/False.
At the end of the medical interview, you should ask, ‘do you have any questions?’
Clinical Skills
False.
At the end of the medical interview, you should ask, ‘what else would you like to know that we haven’t discussed?’
Clinical Skills
Name an excellent way to improve your differential diagnosis and also see what the patient understands of their S/Sy.
Ask: ‘what do you think is causing your symptoms?’
(or, if a diagnosis is already established, ask: ‘what do you know about your condition?’)
Clinical Skills
What should you do to check for patient understanding at the end of the patient interview?
Something along the lines of: ‘Let’s review. I try to be thorough and make sure I didn’t miss any important information; so, it helps me if you can tell me what you plan to do about/for your ________ (condition) when you leave here.’
Clinical Skills
What is an important step before encouraging a patient to change some pattern of behavior?
Assess their readiness to change
(pre-contemplation,
contemplation,
preparation,
action,
maintenance,
relapse)
Clinical Skills
What are the first three stages of change?
Pre-contemplation
Contemplation
Preparation