1. CAREER ENHANCEMENT
WORKSHOP
Rosa Martinez
April 5, 2012

2. Workshop outcomes
 Examine how personal values, beliefs,
attitudes & perceptions influence interpersonal
communication
 Analyse effective core interpersonal qualities &
physician‟s communication skills

3. Tasks
 Say what you believe about yourself, others,
the world, success, money & relationships
 Describe one recent experience that has
deepened your awareness of other cultures

4.  Imagine you are a member of the opposite
sex. What would your body feel like? How
would you interact differently with those
around you? How do others might behave
differently?
 Describe briefly how your family background
influences the way in which you relate to
others

5.  If you are a spiritual person, in what ways is
this relationship supportive to you or limiting to
you?
 If you do not have a spiritual practice, how do
you imagine you will feel working with a client
who has a strong faith background?

6.  How do you react when there is too much
stress in your life? How do you successfully
reduce the effects of stress in your life?
 Imagine you are working with a person who is
concerned about moving away from his/her
family. How would you respond if your client is
a Middle Eastern woman of 22? What about if
he is a man of 30?

7. Importance of Self-Understanding
Our self-concept is influenced by:
 Culture, race & ethnicity
 Gender
 Sexual orientation
 Family of origin
 Spirituality
 Values
 Stress & demand

8. Communication Process
Feedback
Sender Encode Message Decode Receiver
Noise

9. Case Study
John is a middle age has been experiencing
pain in his left foot which becomes acute every
time he plays soccer or goes jogging
When asked why he doesn‟t go to a doctor he
replies: “Doctors here don‟t know anything about
you. They only prescribe you pain killers and ask
you for tests. Chinese doctors are far better.”

10. Knowing who you are will allow you
 to differentiate what is true for you & what is
true for your clients
 to learn more about your uniqueness
 to become aware of your own beliefs & values
 to communicate effectively with others
 to understand others from their own
perspective

12. Interpersonal & Communication Skills
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical
Education:
• effective information exchange and teaming
with patients, their families and professional
associates
• effective listening skills with non-verbal and
verbal communication; working as both a team
member and at times as a lead

13. Core interpersonal qualities
Warmth Empathy
(see the world from the
(kind & accepting) perspective of others)
Core
Interpersonal
qualities
Respect Genuineness
(unconditional (sincere, authentic)
acceptance)

14. How to communicate with patients
 listening effectively
 eliciting information using effective questioning
skills
 providing information using effective
explanatory skills
 counseling and educating patients
 making informed decisions based on patient
information & preference

15. Task 2.
Watch the video excerpt and identify ways of:
 Establishing rapport
 Listening attentively
 Explaining procedures
 Counselling & educating
 Making informed decisions

16. BARRIERS IN LISTENING
 think faster than a speaker
 jump to conclusions
 lose patience/interest
 overreact & respond emotionally
 Interrupt
 use absolutes: „It will never work‟
 set limits: „We tried it that way once‟

17. Barriers to patient-physician communication
Travaline J et al. J Am Osteopath Assoc 2005;105:13-18

18. How to be a better listener
 Be patient for the entire message
 Listen for ideas, not just facts
 Verify: So, you’re saying that…; If I
understand correctly, you said….
 Question: What do you mean when you say…
 Acknowledge: Hmmm, oh right
 Encourage: Tell me more; Would you like to
talk about it?
 Silence: nod your head, smile

19. Communications traps to avoid
Travaline J et al. J Am Osteopath Assoc 2005;105:13-18

20. References
 MOC Competencies and Criteria (1999). In American Board of Medical
Specialties. Retrieved April 5, 2012, from
http://www.abms.org/maintenance_of_certification/MOC_competencies.asp
x
 Travaline, J., Ruchinskas, R., & D'Alonzo Jr, G. (2005, February 11).
Patient-Physician Communication: Why and How. The Journal of the
American Osteopathic Association, 105 (1), 13-18. Retrieved April 5, 2012,
from http://www.jaoa.org/content/105/1/13.full
 Watling, C., & Brown, J. (2007, November 27). Education Research:
Communication skills for neurology residents. Neurology, 69(22). Retrieved
April 5, 2012, from http://www.neurology.org/content/69/22/E20.full