Effectiveness of teaching general practitioners skills in brief cognitive behaviour therapy to treat patients with depression: randomised controlled trial

ObjectiveTo assess the effectiveness of teaching general practitioners skills in brief cognitive behaviour therapy.DesignParallel group, cluster randomised, controlled trial of an educational package on cognitive behaviour therapy.SettingGeneral practices in north London.Participants84 general practitioner principals and 272 patients attending their practices who scored above the threshold for psychological distress on the hospital anxiety and depression scale.InterventionA training package of four half days on brief cognitive behaviour therapy.ResultsDoctors'' knowledge of depression and attitudes towards its treatment showed no major difference between intervention and control groups after 6 months. The training had no discernible impact on patients'' outcomes.ConclusionGeneral practitioners may require more training and support than a basic educational package on brief cognitive behaviour therapy to acquire skills to help patients with depression.

What is already known on this topic

Trained professionals can deliver effective cognitive behaviour therapy to depressed patients presenting to general practitionersLimited evidence shows that cognitive behaviour therapy is effective when delivered by general practitioners who have received extensive instructionMost doctors do not have the time or inclination to carry out such comprehensive training

What this study adds

Basic training in brief cognitive behaviour therapy has little effect on general practitioners'' attitudes to the identification and treatment of depression or the outcome of their patients with emotional problemsGeneral practitioners may require more extensive training and support if they are to acquire skills in brief cognitive behaviour therapy that will have a positive impact on their patients     

Submitting articles to the BMJ

ObjectiveTo investigate how doctors engage with patients with psychotic illness in routine consultations.DesignConversation analysis of 32 consultations between psychiatrists and patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.SettingTwo psychiatric outpatient clinics in east London and south west London.Participants7 psychiatrists and 32 patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.ResultsPatients actively attempted to talk about the content of their psychotic symptoms in consultations by asking direct questions, repeating their questions and utterances, and producing these utterances in the concluding part of the consultation. In response, doctors hesitated, responded with a question rather than with an answer, and smiled or laughed (when informal carers were present), indicating that they were reluctant to engage with patients'' concerns about their psychotic symptoms.ConclusionsPatients repeatedly attempted to talk about the content of their psychotic symptoms, which was a source of noticeable interactional tension and difficulty. Addressing patients'' concerns about their illness may lead to a more satisfactory outcome of the consultation and improve engagement of such patients in the health services.

What is already known on this topic

Patients with psychotic illness are difficult to engage in the health servicesNo research has been published on how doctors engage with these patients in consultations

What this study adds

Patients actively attempt to talk about the content of their psychotic symptomsDoctors'' reluctance and discomfort in engaging with this topic is apparentAddressing patients'' concerns may lead to a more satisfactory outcome of the consultation and improve engagement with services     

开展临床指导教师对普通专科医师培训情况的调查结果分析

目的:调查我院专科医师培训开展的整体情况,为继续做好专科医师培训工作提供依据。方法:随机调查我院参与普通专科医师培训轮转科室的指导教师,发放自制调查表。结果:90%以上导师认为科室带教质量高;48.78%导师认为临床科室应为学员每月发放1000元以上生活补助;60.98%导师认为硕士研究生普通专科医师培训时间应为二年;60%以上导师认为应着重硕士研究生临床操作技能、医患沟通能力、病历书写能力及阅片能力等方面能力的培训;50%以上导师认为目前培训中存在的主要问题是生活无保障;图书馆国内外最新文献不足;监管力度不强;临床技能培训针对性不强等。结论:我院开展普通专科医师培训整体情况较好。但仍存在很多问题,在今后的培训过程中应继续为学员的生活提供更多保障,继续加强管理监督,保证培训按计划、按质量完成。     

Effectiveness of IV cannulation skills laboratory training and its transfer into clinical practice: a randomized, controlled trial

Background

The effectiveness of skills laboratory training is widely recognized. Yet, the transfer of procedural skills acquired in skills laboratories into clinical practice has rarely been investigated. We conducted a prospective, randomised, double-blind, controlled trial to evaluate, if students having trained intravenous (IV) cannulation in a skills laboratory are rated as more professional regarding technical and communication skills compared to students who underwent bedside teaching when assessed objectively by independent video assessors and subjectively by patients.

Methodology and Principal Findings

84 volunteer first-year medical students were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Three drop-outs occurred. The intervention group (IG; n = 41) trained IV cannulation in a skills laboratory receiving instruction after Peyton''s ‘Four-Step Approach’. The control group (CG; n = 40) received a bedside teaching session with volunteer students acting as patients. Afterwards, performance of IV cannulation of both groups in a clinical setting with students acting as patients was video-recorded. Two independent, blinded video assessors scored students'' performance using binary checklists (BC) and the Integrated Procedural Protocol Instrument (IPPI). Patients assessed students'' performance with the Communication Assessment Tool (CAT) and a modified IPPI. IG required significantly shorter time needed for the performance on a patient (IG: 595.4 SD(188.1)s; CG: 692.7 SD(247.8)s; 95%CI 23.5 s to 45.1 s; p = 0.049) and completed significantly more single steps of the procedure correctly (IG: 64% SD(14) for BC items; CG: 53% SD(18); 95%CI 10.25% to 11.75%; p = 0.004). IG also scored significantly better on IPPI ratings (median: IG: 3.1; CG: 3.6; p = 0.015;). Rated by patients, students'' performance and patient-physician communication did not significantly differ between groups.

Conclusions

Transfer of IV cannulation-related skills acquired in a skills laboratory is superior to bedside teaching when rated by independent video raters by means of IPPI and BC. It enables students to perform IV cannulation more professionally on volunteer students acting as patients.     

论如何提高青年教师临床课教学水平--参加全国高等医学院校青年教师教学基本功比赛有感

青年教师作为高校教学工作的中坚力量,其教学水平直接影响着教学效果和教学质量。对医学院校而言,提高青年教师教学水平是培养优秀医学人才的重要手段。而教学基本功比赛是交流教学经验,展示教学风采,提升教学能力的重要平台。通过比赛不仅能提升教学水平,激发教学热情,更能提升教师的全面素质,同时也为广大青年教师提供了良好的互相交流和沟通的平台,以取得共同进步。笔者结合自身多年来的教学实践,参加教学比赛及观摩体会,介绍了全国医学院校教学基本功比赛的背景及意义,同时从课堂设计、教学技巧、教学手段等3个方面深入探讨了如何提高教师临床课授课能力及教学效果,旨在更好的发挥教学比赛对日常教学的辐射作用,为提高广大青年教师临床课教学水平提供参考及帮助。     

Do patients wish to be involved in decision making in the consultation? A cross sectional survey with video vignettes

ObjectiveTo determine patients'' preferences for a shared or directed style of consultation in the decision making part of the general practice consultation.DesignStructured interview, with video vignettes of acted consultations.Setting5 practices in Lothian, Scotland.Participants410 patients (adults and adults accompanying children) attending surgery appointments.ResultsPatients varied in their preference for involvement in decision making in the consultation. Under multiple regression analysis, patients'' preference was found to be independently predicted by the problem viewed (patients presented with physical problems preferred a directed approach), patients'' age (patients aged 61 or older were more likely to prefer the directed approach), social class (social classes I and II were more likely to prefer the shared approach), and smoking status (smokers more likely to prefer the shared approach). Those patients who were able to answer (or who thought their doctor''s style similar to those in the vignettes) were more likely to describe their own doctor''s style as similar to their preferred style. No major association in preference was found with sex, frequency of attendance, or perceived chronic ill health.ConclusionPatients may vary in their desire for involvement in decision making in consultations. Although this variation seems to depend on the presenting problem, age, social class, and smoking status, these associations are not absolute, with large minorities in each group. Doctors need the skills, knowledge of their patients, and the time to determine on which occasions, with which illnesses, and at which level their patients wish to be involved in decision making.     

Drama as physical role-play: actions and outcomes for life science lessons in South Africa

Abstract

Two volunteer BEd student teachers in their fourth year of a BEd degree at a metropolitan university in the Western Cape of South Africa designed and taught lessons to two classes of the same age and ability in grade 7 (ages 12–13), using drama role-plays (intervention) and more conventional non-drama methods (control). Lessons were observed and video-audio recorded to identify episodes critical to successful learning. Learners (pupils) in both sets of classes were tested in associated content using tests designed by the student teachers. In both cases test outcomes were in favour of drama lessons (F = .56 and .55) but were not necessarily linked to the number of positive teaching episodes. Lack of interaction between student teachers and their learners, insufficient structure to the role-plays or a tendency to over-contextualise scenarios did not seem to have hindered conceptual understanding. Findings suggest a more nuanced and progressive programme of training in using drama for teaching science would be beneficial and that subject knowledge for planning activities must be particularly sound.     

Withholding the artificial administration of fluids and food from elderly patients with dementia: ethnographic study

ObjectiveTo clarify the practice of withholding the artificial administration of fluids and food from elderly patients with dementia in nursing homes.DesignQualitative, ethnographic study in two phases.Setting10 wards in two nursing homes in the Netherlands.Participants35 patients with dementia, eight doctors, 43 nurses, and 32 families.ResultsThe clinical course of dementia was considered normal and was rarely reason to begin the artificial administration of fluids and food in advanced disease. Fluids and food seemed to be given mainly when there was an acute illness or a condition that needed medical treatment and which required hydration to be effective. The medical condition of the patient, the wishes of the family, and the interpretations of the patients'' quality of life by their care providers were considered more important than living wills and policy agreements.ConclusionsDoctors'' decisions about withholding the artificial administration of fluids and food from elderly patients with dementia are influenced more by the clinical course of the illness, the presumed quality of life of the patient, and the patient''s medical condition than they are by advanced planning of care. In an attempt to understand the wishes of the patient doctors try to create the broadest possible basis for the decision making process and its outcome, mainly by involving the family.

What is already known on this topic

Debate has focused on whether it is beneficial to withhold the artificial administration of fluids and food from patients with advanced dementia

What this study adds

The course of dementia, the patient''s quality of life, and the patient''s current medical condition influence doctors'' decision making more than advanced planning of careDoctors try to create the broadest possible basis for the decision making process and its outcome, mainly by involving the family     

Comparison of patient and surgeon expectations of total hip arthroplasty

Objectives

Analysis of discrepancies between patient and surgeon expectations before total hip arthroplasty (THA) should enable a better understanding of motives of dissatisfaction about surgery, but this question has been seldom studied. Our objectives were to compare surgeons'' and patients'' expectations before THA, and to study factors which affected surgeon-patient agreement.

Methods

132 adults (mean age 62.8+/−13.7 years, 52% men) on waiting list for THA in three tertiary care centres and their 16 surgeons were interviewed to assess their expectations using the Hospital for Special Surgery Total Hip Replacement Expectations Survey (range 0–100). Patients'' and surgeons'' answers were compared, for the total score and for the score of each item. Univariate analyses tested the effect of patients'' characteristics on surgeons'' and patients'' expectations separately, and on surgeon-patient differences.

Results

Surgeon and patient expectations'' mean scores were high (respectively 90.9+/−11.1 and 90.0+/−11.6 over 100). Surgeons'' and patients'' expectations showed no systematic difference, but there was little agreement on Bland and Altman graph and correlation coefficient was low. Patients had higher expectations than surgeons for sports. Patients rated their expectations according to trust in physician and mental quality of life, surgeons considered disability. More disabled patients and patients from a low-income professional category were often “more optimistic” than their surgeons.

Conclusion

Surgeons and patients often do not agree on what to expect from THA. More disabled patients expect better outcomes than their surgeons.     

高原医学救援实战演练教学改革实践与分析

医学救援实战演练教学贴近实战,并综合各学科而设,是培养应急性医学救援人才的必备课程。以往演练暴露诸多问题,例如学员不能全面参与训练,学员对突发状况应对能力较弱,训练内容设置不合理以及考核方式不能反映学员训练的真实情况等问题。我们进行高原医学救援演练教学方法改革,采用多用途学习模块,学员全面参与演练科目的方式,整合课堂、临床相关方面知识技能,组织教学训练单元,建立规范化、标准化救治流程,删减调整不相关内容,可在短期内完成培训。最后,通过考核方式改革,采用全程考查并及时对参训人员进行反馈保证训练质量。     

Training Medical Specialists to Communicate Better with Patients with Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms (MUPS). A Randomized,Controlled Trial

Background

Patients with medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS) are prevalent 25–50% in general and specialist care. Medical specialists and residents often find patients without underlying pathology difficult to deal with, whereas patients sometimes don’t feel understood. We developed an evidence-based communication training, aimed to improve specialists’ interviewing, information-giving and planning skills in MUPS consultations, and tested its effectiveness.

Methods

The intervention group in this multi-center randomized controlled trial received a 14-hour training program to which experiential learning and feedback were essential. Using techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, they were stimulated to seek interrelating factors (symptoms, cognitions, emotions, behavior, and social environment) that reinforced a patient’s symptoms. They were taught to explain MUPS understandably, reassure patients effectively and avoid unnecessary diagnostic testing. Before and after the intervention training, specialists videotaped a total of six consultations with different MUPS patients. These were evaluated to assess doctors’ MUPS-focused communicating skills using an adapted version of the Four Habit Coding Scheme on five-point Likert scales. Participants evaluated the training by self-report on three-point Likert scales. Doctors in the control group received training after completion of the study.

Results

123 doctors (40% specialists, 60% residents) and 478 MUPS patients from 11 specialties were included; 98 doctors completed the study (80%) and 449 videotaped consultations were assessed. Trained doctors interviewed patients more effectively than untrained ones (p < 0.001), summarized information in a more patient-centered way (p = 0.001), and better explained MUPS and the role of perpetuating factors (p < 0.05). No effects on planning skills were found. On a 3-point scale the training was evaluated with 2.79.

Conclusion

MUPS-focused communication training increases the interviewing and information-giving skills of medical specialists. We recommend that the training is incorporated in postgraduate education for medical specialists and residents who frequently encounter patients with MUPS.

Trial Registration

Dutch Trial Registration NTR2612     

Clinical skills of medical residents: a review of physical examination.

Students are introduced to techniques of physical examination at medical school. However, their skills are deficient at the time of graduation, and with the increasing shift of clinical teaching away from the bedside and into the conference room it is expected that these skills will weaken in succeeding generations of physicians. A practical and satisfactory method of addressing this problem during internship and residency training has not been forthcoming because of the lack of a regular forum for the teaching of clinical skills in busy tertiary referral hospitals and the shortage of teachers with the necessary skills and commitment to teaching a large number of house staff. We describe a program whose unique hierarchical approach has permitted a detailed ongoing review of physical examination. One clinician was able to teach 24 residents by instructing a small group of senior residents, who in turn, after practising with clinical clerks, taught groups of junior residents.     

Quality improvement report: The “jaundice hotline” for the rapid assessment of patients with jaundice

ProblemPatients with jaundice require rapid diagnosis and treatment, yet such patients are often subject to delay.DesignAn open referral, rapid access jaundice clinic was established by reorganisation of existing services and without the need for significant extra resources.

Background and setting

A large general hospital in a largely rural and geographically isolated area.

Key measures for improvement

Waiting times for referral, consultation, diagnosis, and treatment, length of stay in hospital, and general practitioners'' and patients'' satisfaction with the service.

Strategies for change

Referrals were made through a 24 hour telephone answering machine and fax line. Initial assessment of patients was carried out by junior staff as part of their working week. Dedicated ultrasonography appointments were made available.

Effects of change

Of 107 patients seen in the first year of the service, 62 had biliary obstruction. The mean time between referral and consultation was 2.5 days. Patients who went on to endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography waited 5.7 days on average. The mean length of stay in hospital in the 69 patients who were admitted was 6.1 days, compared with 11.5 days in 1996, as shown by audit data. Nearly all the 36 general practices (95%) and the 30 consecutive patients (97%) that were surveyed rated the service as above average or excellent.

Lessons learnt

An open referral, rapid access service for patients with jaundice can shorten time to diagnosis and treatment and length of stay in hospital. These improvements can occur through the reorganisation of existing services and with minimal extra cost.     

Setting standards based on patients' views on access and continuity: secondary analysis of data from the general practice assessment survey

ObjectivesTo examine patients'' views on access and continuity in general practice to derive quality standards.DesignSecondary analysis of data from general practice research studies and routine quality assessment activities undertaken by practices and primary care trusts.SettingGeneral practice.ParticipantsGeneral practice patients.ResultsSatisfactory standards of access were next day appointments with general practitioners and a 6-10 minute wait for consultations to begin. A satisfactory level of continuity was seeing the same general practitioner “a lot of the time.” Standards varied with the analytic method used and by sociodemographic group.ConclusionsStandards expected by patients in primary care can be derived from linked report-assessment pairs. Patients may have expectations of access that are in excess of government targets. Patients also have high expectations of continuity of care. It is unclear the degree to which such standards are reliable or valid, how conflicts between access and continuity should be resolved, or how these standards relate to other priorities of patients such as high quality interpersonal care.

What is already known on this topic

Standards are increasingly being set for the provision of health servicesSurveys and consultation exercises before the NHS plan helped set the standard for a maximum waiting time of 48 hours for appointments to see general practitionersThe optimal methods by which patients should be involved in setting standards and the utility of such standards are unclear

What this study adds

Satisfactory standards of access were next day appointments, a 6-10 minute wait for consultations to begin, and seeing the same general practitioner a lot of the timePatients may have expectations for access to primary care in excess of current government targets     

The practitioner,the patient and resistance to change: recent ideas on compliance.

Despite the explosion of research into the effect of medical advice on patient behaviour, only about 50% of patients comply with long-term drug regimens. And when it comes to changes in lifestyle, the percentage of patients who comply with medical advice often falls to single figures. Review articles on compliance have traditionally concentrated on factors that make it easier for patients to adhere to medical advice. However, recent articles urge clinicians to be more understanding of the wider implications of compliance in their patients'' lives. This article focuses on how clinicians'' consulting methods can affect patients'' behaviour. Specifically, the authors consider the patient-centred clinical method as well as insights from and consulting techniques pioneered in the addictions field that can help to bring ambivalent patients closer to decisions about change. Instead of seeing resistance to change as rooted entirely in the patient, the authors view it as stemming partly from the way clinicians talk to patients. An advice-giving approach is usually inadequate to motivate people to embark on major lifestyle changes. Instead, the authors propose a negotiation-based framework that harnesses patients'' intrinsic motivation to make their own decisions. This approach also promotes clinicians'' acceptance of patients'' decisions, even if these decisions run counter to current medical wisdom.     

Diagnostic and therapeutic efficacy of barium meal examination: a prospective evaluation in general practice.

OBJECTIVE--To assess the efficacy of barium meal examinations in managing patients with dyspepsia in general practice. DESIGN--Prospective study by questionnaires completed by general practitioners before and within three to six months after the barium meal examination. Information was requested about the patients'' symptoms, current treatment, reason for requesting the examination, and the working diagnosis, including degree of certainty and, after the examination, about any change in diagnosis, diagnostic confidence, or management and to determine whether the examination was judged to be helpful or not. SETTING--Inner city health district. PATIENTS--133 Patients with dyspepsia referred by general practitioners for outpatient barium meal examination, 31 of whom failed to attend for the examination, or refused it on arrival, or did not have fully completed questionnaires. Two patients were not available for follow up. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Prevalence of radiological abnormalities and the influence of the examination result on management, particularly changes in drug treatment. RESULTS--Fully completed pairs of questionnaires were available for 100 patients, 58 of whom were aged below 50. Most of the barium meal reports (64) were to confirm the clinical diagnosis; only 22 were to exclude serious disease. Ninety nine patients were already receiving treatment, with 39 taking an H2 receptor antagonist. Fifty eight barium meal examinations showed abnormalities (31 major abnormalities); there were no cancers and in only 18 patients was the working diagnosis changed as a result of the findings. Although the barium meal result increased management confidence (63 patients) and allayed patients'' anxiety (46), changes in management attributed directly to the examination occurred in only 22 patients. Management changes were minor, usually comprising interchange of antacids and H2 receptor antagonists. CONCLUSIONS--Young patients (aged below 50) with dyspepsia are still being overinvestigated. Although barium meal examination improves diagnostic confidence and allays patients'' anxiety, fully utilising communication skills at the initial consultation might allay anxiety more economically.     

医学模拟教学结合以问题为导向的教学模式在重症医学教学中的应用研究

目的:探讨医学模拟教学结合以问题为导向(PBL)的教学模式在重症医学教学中的应用价值。方法:选取2015年1月~2017年1月在我院重症医学科轮转实习的五年制医学生64人作为研究对象。按随机数字表法将64名医学生分为PBL组(n=32)和结合教学组(n=32)。PBL组采用PBL教学,结合教学组采用医学模拟结合PBL教学。分别在入科时和轮转实习结束时对两组学员进行理论考试和技能操作考核,记录成绩并比较。理论考试和技能操作考核后采取发放问卷进行调查的形式获得学员对教学效果的主观评价。结果:轮转实习结束时,两组理论考试分数差异无统计学意义(P0.05);而结合教学组技能操作考核成分数显著高于PBL组,差异具有统计学意义(P0.05)。两组学员在教学方法接受度高、学习兴趣提升、自学能力提升和临床诊疗水平提高所占比例差异无统计学意义(P0.05);结合教学组学员在团队协作能力提高、沟通能力与人文关怀提高和技能操作水平提高所占比例高于PBL组,差异有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论:与单独PBL教学相比较,医学模拟教学结合PBL的教学模式应用于重症医学教学对学员技能操作的掌握有更好的效果,同时能提高学员团队协作能力、沟通能力以及对患者的人文关怀,且受到学员的认同与喜爱,应在重症医学的教学实践中逐步完善并进一步推广应用。