Communication skills in the undergraduate course cannot be divorced from
content.
During the old pre clinical course I had communication skills courses.
Actors were brought in to be real patients. Unfortunately there were no
real doctors. We had not begun to be taught history and examination and had
only just got to pathology and pharmacology.
The point is that effective communication involves substance as well as
style. Both aspects can be improved, but try one without the other and you
could be in parliament before you know it.
|