1Department of Medical Education, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar 2Department of Pediatrics, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar 3Department of Surgery, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar 4Department of Dentistry, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar 5Department of Anesthesia, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar 6Department of Geriatrics, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qata...

OBJECTIVE Health-care communication skills training may be particularly needed in the Arabian Gulf countries because of the variety of cultures within the physician and patient populations. This study describes the implementation and results of a communication skills training program for physicians in Qatar that assessed previous training, and effect of previous training on participants' course...

This article describes the communication skills programme of the International Medical University, which adopts an integrated medical curriculum. The programme, implemented in February 2005, is based on a systematic framework aimed at teaching students basic interpersonal communication skills progressively and continuously throughout the pre-clinical phase.

Review of "Effect of communication skills training program for oncologists based on patient preferences for communication when receiving bad news: A randomized controlled trial" by Fujimori et al. (2014), Journal of Clinical Oncology, 32, 2166-2172. For a further discussion of survey research, please see the related article by Julie Ponto starting on page 168.

Communication skills tend to decline with time unless they are regularly recalled and practiced. However, most medical schools still deliver clinical communication training only during pre-clinical years although the clinical environment is considered to be ideal for acquiring and teaching clinical communication. The aim of this article is to review the barriers that prevent communication skill...

PURPOSE Currently, there is a growing need for patient-centered radiology in which radiologists communicate with patients directly. The aim of this study is to investigate the preferences of referring physicians (RPs) regarding direct communication between radiologists and patients. METHODS This study was conducted in a single academic hospital using a survey form. The survey items investigat...

Good communication with patients is now recognised as the cornerstone in effective medical practice. Medical students do not automatically acquire the art of good communication through clinical training. A new course to promote the development of communication skills at undergraduate level is described. The course was provided at the juncture between pre-clinical and clinical training. Course e...

PROBLEM What were the effects of a communication skills training intervention among a sample of young adolescents and parents who scored in the "extreme" range of the Circumplex Model of Family Systems? METHODS Thirty-seven young adolescents and a parent (intervention group) participated in communication skills training 2 hours/week for 6 weeks. Their responses on measures of satisfaction wit...

improving and that communication is best learnt through observation in clinical situations. If the role models that medical students and junior doctors are observing are poor communicators how do we expect these learners to improve? I agree that observation and reflection is an important part of the experiential learning process, as is practising skills. But we know that in clinical situation l...