Clinical and communication skills

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7488.374

BMJ 2005;330:374-375 (19 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7488.374

Editorial

Clinical and communication skills

Need to be learnt side by side

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Teaching clinical skills to undergraduates focuses on examination,planning treatment, safe prescribing, and procedures such asvenepuncture, suturing, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.¹Curriculums for communication skills aim to develop effective(clear and sensitive) communication with patients, carers, andcolleagues. Skills include being able to take a history andshare information, particularly explaining procedures and discussingtreatment options and their effects.¹ When working with patientsand colleagues, communication and clinical skills are practisedsimultaneously, yet most medical school curriculums teach themseparately, albeit in parallel.

The current practice of teaching communication skills separatelyfrom clinical skills reflects a reductionist paradigm—bybreaking down the complex phenomenon of a consulatation to itsbasic components. This may be helpful at an early stage of learning,but it may limit the coherence needed to ensure that doctorscommunicate satisfactorily with patients.

Those who teach communication skills have moved on from establishingthe importance of their . . . [Full text of this article]

Jane Kidd, reader in communication skills

Medical Teaching Centre, Warwick Medical School, Coventry CV4 7AL (jane.kidd@warwick.ac.uk)

Vinod Patel, reader in clinical skills, Ed Peile, head of medical education, Yvonne Carter, dean

Medical Teaching Centre, Warwick Medical School, Coventry CV4 7AL

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