A frequent complaint about the quality of health care delivery is that physicians often do not listen to their patients in consultation sessions. Studies indicate physicians show a tendency to listen only to patient discourse that the examiners had initiated, and to ignore questions and comments that the patients had initiated; that physicians…

Describes how the discussion of a few short poems on abortion was used to show how the special language of poetry can help doctors share the experience of their patients, as well as recognize their own feelings and attitudes. (JL)

Comparison of two medical school human sexuality training approaches, one in which students had no experience taking a sexual history and another in which students conducted or observed a sexual history interview, found the latter more effective in conveying knowledge of sexuality and appropriateness and skill in taking sexual histories.…

Presents an ethnographic study into whether or not reading and writing about literature helps medical students communicate more effectively in the physician-patient encounter. Demonstrates that although medical students were embedded in the discourse of medicine, reflective writing enabled them to conceive medicine as an interpretive, personal,…

This teaching guide for a dental health curriculum for children in the Head Start Program contains lesson plans for the following areas: (1) introduction to the dental health program; (2) visiting the dentist; (3) awareness of the mouth; (4) the important functions of the mouth; (5) the importance of keeping teeth and gums clean; (6)…

In an attempt to focus student attention on interpersonal aspects of medical practice, 31 students were trained to present the history and symptoms of an actual patient and then visited 11 physicians to get help for their "problem." Follow-up discussions were held to evaluate the physician-patient relationship. (LBH)

A technique to teach first-year medical students to conduct brief interviews that focus on how medical illness affects the daily life of patients is described. The technique includes a conceptual model of the interview and an explicit teaching method for instructors and students. (Author/MLW)

An interdisciplinary course in health communication can begin to bridge the gap in knowledge between different health care disciplines and provide epistemological gains for both health care practitioners and communication scholars. Possible topics include patient interviewing, health education, practitioner/patient relationships, health care…

A model for a geriatric optometry curriculum that defines key content areas and addresses the values essential for effective practice and basic therapeutic modalities used in treatment regimens with older adults is outlined. (MSE)

Three reasons for teaching medical ethics during residency are presented. Key ethical concepts to be addressed include moral aspects of medical practice, obtaining informed consent, dealing with incompetent patients and those who refuse treatment, knowing when to withhold or disclose clinical information, and using medical resources properly. (MSE)

It is argued that the medical school curriculum should include content on jurisprudence to empower physicians to use the law and their legal colleagues to serve patients and promote public welfare. Developing practitioners' skills and changing attitudes are seen as more important than imparting information about particular doctrines and laws. (MSE)

The course content of a laboratory session on patient interviewing taught to medical students taking a course on physical diagnosis is discussed in this paper. The first part of the paper describes the basic course content covered in the lectures: the bio-psycho-social model, the communication process, and the skills necessary for effective…

Thirty-eight dialogues are presented, each illustrating a common, real-life interpreting situation involving medical and/or legal issues and terminology. Each involves both Spanish and English languages, and the situations are specific to New South Wales, Australia. They are designed to be used as a resource in teaching interpreting. The…

Emphasizes the usefulness of integrating communicative and literary analyses to study the symbolic and pragmatic aspects of human relationships. Describes a health care course that teaches practitioner-patient communication through the application of communication theory to literary "case studies." Uses a scene from "The Elephant…

Five strategies for teaching medical students in the ambulatory care setting are described: wave scheduling; orienting learners to patients; having learners do case presentations in the examination room; using the "one-minute preceptor"; and reflecting on teaching to develop effective teaching scripts. The techniques are based on…