Rituals of verification: the role of simulation in developing and evaluating empathic communication.

Rituals of verification: the role of simulation in developing and evaluating empathic communication.

Wear Delese; Varley Joseph D

Patient education and counseling

2008

2008-05

The use of simulation and standardized patients in medical education is firmly established. In this "point-counterpoint" format we debate not their important function but the extent to which they are used to establish "evidence" for trainees' empathic communication skills beyond their surface manifestations. We also question such issues as the power dynamics implicit in simulation when patients are not really worried or dependent but rather students who are under the evaluative surveillance gaze, often relying on formulaic and superficial behaviors associated with good communication. We offer educative experiences in narrative domains as opportunities to develop the habits of thinking and authentic feeling often absent in evaluative-based simulations.

*Communication; *Empathy; *Patient Simulation; *Physician-Patient Relations; Attitude of Health Personnel; Bias; Ceremonial Behavior; Clinical Competence/*standards; Education; Educational Measurement/*methods/standards; Humans; Medical; Patient Satisfaction; Physician's Role/psychology; Power (Psychology); Reproducibility of Results; Role Playing; Students; Undergraduate

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