Consensus on communication curriculum content in Danish undergraduate medical education: A Delphi study

Kirsten Greineder Engel*, Kamilla Pedersen, Mette Dencker Johansen, Katrine Rahbek Schoennemann, Louise Binow Kjaer, Leizl Joy Nayahangan

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The acquisition of skills in patient-centered communication is a critical aspect of medical education which demands both resource-intensive instruction and longitudinal opportunities for learning. Significant variation currently exists in the content and timing of communication education. The aim of this study was to establish consensus regarding communication curriculum content for undergraduate medical education (UME) within the country of Denmark.

METHODS: This study employed a Delphi process which is a widely accepted method for establishing consensus among experts and can be utilized to guide planning and decision-making in education. For this study, consensus was based on greater than 60% agreement between participants. Diverse stakeholders, representing all four universities with medical schools in Denmark, participated in an iterative three-round Delphi process which involved: (1) identifying key curricular elements for medical student education, (2) rating the importance of each item, and (3) prioritizing items relative to one another and rating each item based on the level of mastery that was expected for each skill (i.e. knowledge, performance with supervision, or performance independently).

RESULTS: A national sample of 149 stakeholders participated with a 70% response rate for round 1, 81% for round 2, and 86% for round 3. The completed Delphi process yielded 56 content items which were prioritized in rank order lists within five categories: (1) establishing rapport, engaging patient perspectives and responding to needs; (2) basic communication skills and techniques; (3) phases and structure of the encounter; (4) personal characteristics and skills of the student; (5) specific challenging patient groups and context-dependent situations.

DISCUSSION: Using a Delphi process, it was possible to achieve consensus regarding communication curriculum content for UME. These findings provide an important foundation for ensuring greater uniformity in UME, as well as supporting the important longitudinal goals of communication skill development across medical training.

Original languageEnglish
JournalMedical Teacher
Volume44
Issue number11
Pages (from-to)1221-1227
Number of pages7
ISSN0142-159X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2022

Keywords

  • Patient-centered communication
  • communication skills training
  • curriculum content consensus
  • undergraduate medical education

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