Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Difficult patient encounters can lead to burnout and stress in health care workers. Limited training exists to teach residents communication and coping skills needed for dealing with difficult patient encounters. METHODS: We developed a 1-hour virtual video-case scenario workshop to teach communication skills and coping strategies to first-year pediatric residents. The workshop consisted of a short video-case scenario, which was developed in collaboration among ambulatory pediatricians and a hospitalist. The case scenario was followed by guidance from a psychologist and psychiatrist. As part of the workshop, the facilitator provided the residents an opportunity to self-reflect during and after reviewing the case scenario. The effectiveness of the workshop was evaluated using a pre- and post-assessment survey. RESULTS: All 64 first-year pediatric residents completed the pre- and postworkshop surveys. Before the workshop, only 22% of residents stated familiarity with coping and communication strategies for handling difficult patient encounters. Pre- and postworkshop surveys demonstrated statistically significant increases in the residents' self-perceived comfort in using strategies to communicate with distressed patients, their ability to identify the need for a debriefing session for themselves or a colleague, and their ability to hold a debriefing session for a junior colleague. DISCUSSION: Our results suggest that video-case scenarios in combination with facilitated reflection serve as a model to enhance resident training by teaching them skills needed to communicate with patients in difficult situations and helping them cope with distressing events. Such case scenarios may be further applied to other fields of health care.