Last February, I held a one-day workshop at QUB entitled Body to Body: Communicating Without Words. It was the most successful course I’ve ever designed and delivered. With almost forty participants, we had to take-over surrounding rooms for the role-playing activities. That’s a nice logistical problem for a trainer to have! But it made me realise just why the shops are bursting with books on this topic. People realise its power. People get it… and expect it in return.
Now the medical professionals are catching on too.
I’ve heard a few interesting programmes on the radio recently about body language. Last Monday, Radio 4 broadcast a piece called The Simulated Patient. It dealt with how communication skills are being taught explicitly in medical schools now. They use actors in role-playing scenarios to train doctors in the art of breaking bad-news, active listening, rapport-building and other inter-personal skills.
One of the actors explained it like this. “The students are taught noddies (to nod), grunting (encouraging verbal grunts) and flashing (where they flash their eyes in a twinkly manner).” This is body language at work! Read a BBC article about it.
Keeping with Radio 4, You and Yours did another piece.. ‘a new foundation course which emphasises the importance of communication skills is being introduced for junior doctors. It is part of an overhaul which will also mean team working and patient safety form part of their medical training.’ Listen to the podcast here.
All this isn’t exactly new. Medical professionals have known for many years about the value of the ‘bedside manner’. Our professional doctors and dentists are highly skilled at diagnosing and treating problems. But are they good communicators? As early as 2002, the need to train them in such consultation skills was recognized. Initial instruction methods included online and video training programmes. Results were encouraging – systematic training can make a real difference.
I’m planning to run this workshop again in the new year for the general public. A specialised training programme for those in the medical profession is long overdue. Will anyone have the vision to take it on?
We’ll keep you posted!
Filed under: body language, communication, news and events | Tagged: bedside manner, communication skills, medical training, Northern Ireland, Radio 4, The Simulated Patient, training for dentists, training for doctors, training in body language
