***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: Teaching nursing students therapeutic communication skills begins in the classroom and extends to the clinical environment . The usual method of instruction consists of r and om patient encounters observed by faculty and measures of competence that rely on paper- and -pencil tests . Using st and ardized patients ( SPs ) offers an alternative approach to the traditional method of teaching . St and ardized patients are individuals who have been carefully trained to present an illness or scenario in a st and ardized , unvarying manner . This pilot study compared use of SPs with the usual method of instruction in a class of undergraduate nursing students . Results indicated that students who participated in the SP method overwhelmingly described the experience as positive , creative , and meaningful . No significant differences were found between the two groups on measures of interpersonal skills , therapeutic communication skills , and knowledge of PURPOSE Dental hygienists report a lack of confidence in initiating Tobacco Dependence Counseling ( TDC ) with their patients who smoke . The purpose of this study was to determine if the confidence of dental hygiene students in providing TDC can be increased by St and ardized Patient ( SP ) training , and if that confidence can be sustained over time . METHODS This 2-parallel group r and omized design was used to compare the confidence of students receiving SP training to stu dents with no SP training .  After a classroom lecture , all subjects ( n=27 ) received a baseline test of knowledge and confidence . Subjects were r and omly assigned to test and control groups with equivalent mean knowledge scores . The test group subjects participated in a SP TDC session . Both groups gained parallel experience to treating patients who were smokers and giving TDC in clinical scenarios during the 6 month time period . One week end-training and 6 month post-training assessment s were administered to both groups . ANCOVA compared mean confidence scores . RESULTS End-training scores at 1 week showed a statistically significant increase ( p=0.002 ) in overall mean confidence following SP training for individuals in the test group . The 6 month follow-up test results showed a slight decline in confidence scores among subjects in the test group and an overall gain in confidence for control group participants . However , overall confidence scores were comparable for the groups . CONCLUSION SP training improved dental hygiene students ' initial confidence in providing TDC and was sustained , but not to a significant degree . Clinical experience alone increased confidence . Further studies may help determine how the initial confidence gained by SP training can be sustained and what the role of clinical experience plays in overall confidence in providing TDC INTRODUCTION There are shortages in community-based general practice placements for medical students . Innovative ways to teach the skills required in general practice are needed . AIM To assess the effectiveness of ' simulated ' general practice clinics using actors , compared with st and ard community-based general practice attachments in medical undergraduate education . METHODS R and omised controlled trial involving medical students . Outcome measures included self-reported knowledge , clinical confidence , communication skills , and attitudes within general practice assessed at baseline and after one week . Intervention students participated in 24 simulated consultations with actor- patients over four days . Control students spent four days working with community-based general practitioners and real patients . RESULTS Of 138 eligible medical students in the first clinical year , 128 ( 93 % ) participated and 106/128 ( 82 % ) completed the study . Those participating in simulated clinics improved in confidence in history-taking ( p=0.03 ) , communication skills ( p=0.04 ) , and ability to detect depression ( p<0.001 ) compared with those undertaking community attachments . Those in community-based attachments felt more confident in managing upper respiratory tract infections ( p<0.001 ) , giving injections ( p<0.001 ) , screening in general practice ( p=0.03 ) and managing illness in the patient 's home ( p=0.04 ) . There was no difference between the groups in other measures . DISCUSSION Simulated clinics may assist with development of communication skills within the general practice consultation and may also be used to supplement community-based attachment with real patients . Even so , confidence in the management of common conditions and procedures improves more with real patients OBJECTIVE Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the USA and reducing the number of smokers by 50 % is among the goals of the Healthy People 2010 initiative . Despite its importance , few medical students receive formal training in smoking cessation counselling . Motivational interviewing is a patient-centred , but directive , method of counselling that has been found to be more effective than giving brief advice for motivating smokers to quit . We wanted to determine whether using st and ardised patients to teach this skill to Year 3 medical students would be more effective than using student role-plays . METHODS We conducted a r and omised , controlled trial of 93 Year 3 family medicine clerkship students at our medical school between July 2003 and July 2004 . The control group  ( n=46 ) practised motivational interviewing with one another and the intervention group ( n=47 ) practised with st and ardised patients trained in motivational interviewing for smoking cessation . At the end of the study all the students conducted an interview with a different st and ardised patient that was videotaped . The primary outcome was analysis by a trained masked evaluator of the quality of a final videotaped interview using the motivational interviewing treatment integrity code ( MITI ) , which assesses the quality of the interview according to 6 different criteria . RESULTS There was no significant difference between the control and intervention groups in the final analyses of the interviews . CONCLUSIONS According to MITI scores , st and ardised patient role-plays are similar in effectiveness to student role-plays when teaching basic motivational interviewing skills for smoking cessation to Year 3 medical students A literature search for articles concerning  communication skills teaching and learning in medicine was done . The search yielded 180 pertinent articles , which were quality grade d into the three categories of high , medium and low quality , using established criteria . Only those of high and medium quality were used for the review , which thus is based on 31 r and omized studies , 38 open effect studies and 14 descriptive studies . Communication skills can be taught in courses , are learnt , but are easily forgotten if not maintained by practice .The most effective point in time to learn these at medical school is probably during the clinical clerkships , but there is no study that has specifically addressed this question .After a short period of training , doctors can be effective as teachers . The teaching method should be experiential as it has been shown conclusively that instructional methods do not give the desired results .The contents of communication skills courses should primarily be problem defining . All students should have communication skills training since those with the lowest pre-course scores gain the most from such courses . Men are slower learners of communication skills than women , which should be taken into account by course organizers . As there is only one really long-term follow up into the residency phase of communication skills training at medical school , those who have done r and omized studies in the field should if possible carry out further follow-up studies INTRODUCTION Physicians need to be well trained in HIV risk assessment interview skills . Little has been written in the literature concerning training methods for this specialized interview . METHODS One model to teach the HIV risk assessment interview has been developed and has been used to teach third-year medical students . We compared this interactive model , which uses simulated patients to teach HIV Risk Assessment , to a didactic one . Twelve medical residents were taken through either the interactive session or the didactic session . Pre-post changes from question naires were calculated to determine any differences in sessions . Also , Objective Structured Clinical Examinations ( OSCEs ) were used to grade all residents 2 weeks after their sessions . RESULTS All pre-post changes were calculated and no statistically significant differences were seen ( P > 0.50 ) . OSCE interpersonal skills scores and content scores were calculated . The interactive group had statistically significantly higher scores ( P < 0.05 ) . CONCLUSION The data supports the conclusion that an interactive method is more effective to use to train HIV risk assessment interview skills to medical residents when compared to the didactic method This study assessed medical students ’ perception of individual vs. group training in breaking bad news ( BBN ) and explored training needs in BBN . Master-level students ( N = 124 ) were r and omised to group training (GT)—where  only one or two students per group conducted a simulated patient ( SP ) interview , which was discussed collectively with the faculty — or individual training (IT)—where each student conducted an SP interview , which was discussed during individual supervision . Training evaluation was based on question naires , and the videotaped interviews were rated using the Roter Interaction Analysis System .  Students were globally satisfied with the training . Still , there were noticeable differences between students performing an interview ( GT/IT ) and students observing interviews ( GT ) . The analysis of the interviews showed significant differences according to scenarios and to gender . Active involvement through SP interviews seems required for students to feel able to reach training objectives . The evaluation of communication skills , revealing a baseline heterogeneity , supports individualised training BACKGROUND It is uncertain whether training improves physicians ’ obesity counseling . OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of an obesity counseling curriculum for residents . DESIGN A non-r and omized , wait-list/control design . PARTICIPANTS Twenty-three primary care internal medicine residents ; 12 were assigned to the curriculum group , and 11 were assigned to the no-curriculum group . Over a 7-month period ( 1–8 months post-intervention ) 163 of the residents ’ obese patients were interviewed after their medical visits . INTERVENTIONA 5-hour , multi-modal obesity counseling curriculum based on the 5As ( Assess , Advise , Agree , Assist , Arrange ) using didactics , role-playing , and st and ardized patients .MAIN MEASURES Patient-report of physicians ’ use of the 5As was assessed using a structured interview survey . Main outcomes were whether obese patients were counseled about diet , exercise , or weight loss ( rate of counseling ) and the quality of counseling provided ( percentage of 5As skills performed during the visit ) . Univariate statistics ( t-tests ) were used to compare the rate and quality of counseling in the two resident groups . Logistic and linear regression was used to isolate the impact of the curriculum after controlling for patient , physician , and visit characteristics . KEY RESULTS A large percentage of patients seen by both groups of residents received counseling about their weight , diet , and /or exercise ( over 70 % ) , but the quality of counseling was low in both the curriculum and no curriculum groups ( mean 36.6 % vs. 31.2 % of 19 possible 5As counseling strategies , p = 0.21 ) . This difference was not significant . However , after controlling for patient , physician and visit characteristics , residents in the curriculum group appeared to provide significantly higher quality counseling than those in the control group ( std β = 0.18 ; R2 change = 2.9 % , P < 0.05 ) . CONCLUSIONS Residents who received an obesity counseling curriculum were not more likely to counsel obese patients than residents who did not . Training , however , is associated with higher quality of counseling when patient , physician , and visit characteristics are taken into account This study investigated the effectiveness of modules involving  st and ardized patients  and role-plays on training communication skills . The first module involved  st and ardized patients and an Objective Structured Clinical Examination ( OSCE ) ; the second module consisted of peer role-plays and a written examination . A r and omized posttest-only control group design with first-year nursing students was used . The intervention group received one-to-one communication training with direct oral feedback from the st and ardized patient . The control group had training with peer role-playing and mutual feedback . The posttest involved students ' rating their self-efficacy , and real patients and clinical supervisors evaluated their communication skills . No significant differences were found between self-efficacy and patient ratings . However , the clinical supervisors rated the intervention group 's communication skills to be significantly ( p < 0.0001 ) superior . Assessment s by clinical supervisors indicate that communication training modules including st and ardized patients and an OSCE are superior to communication training modules with peer role-playing BACKGROUND Interpersonal and communication skills ( IPCS ) are essential for advanced practice nursing ( APN ) in our increasingly complex healthcare system . The St and ardized Patient ( SP ) is a promising innovative pedagogy in medical and healthcare education ; however , its effectiveness for teaching IPCS to graduate nursing students remains unclear . OBJECTIVES We examined the effectiveness of using SP with SP feedback and group discussion to teach IPCS in graduate nursing education . DESIGN R and omized-controlled study . PARTICIPANTS First-year APN students in Taiwan . METHODS Participants were r and omly assigned to the experimental ( SP assessment s with SP feedback and group discussion ) or control ( SP assessment s only ) group . There were two outcome indicators : IPCS and student learning satisfaction ( SLS ) . The IPCS were assessed before and after the study in interviews with the SPs . SLS was measured when the study ended . RESULTS All participants expressed high SLS ( 94.44 % ) and showed significant ( p ≤ 0.025 ) improvements on IPCS total scores , interviewing , and counseling . However , there were no significant differences between groups . Qualitative feedback from encounters with SPs is described . CONCLUSIONS Using SPs to teach IPCS to APN students produced a high SLS . The students learned and significantly improved their IPCS by interviewing SPs , but future studies are needed to confirm the effectiveness of SP feedback and group discussion IMPORTANCE Communication about end-of-life care is a core clinical skill . Simulation-based training improves skill acquisition , but effects on patient-reported outcomes are unknown . OBJECTIVE To assess the effects of a communication skills intervention for internal medicine and nurse practitioner trainees on patient- and family-reported outcomes . DESIGN , SETTING , AND PARTICIPANTS R and omized trial conducted with 391 internal medicine and 81 nurse practitioner trainees between 2007 and 2013 at the University of Washington and Medical University of South Carolina . INTERVENT 
    Output:
    
There were a small number of studies comparing SP with no training at all and there were no differences between communication skills , contradicting the results from studies reporting benefits .
SP-based education is widely accepted as a valuable and effective means of teaching communication skills but there is limited evidence of how this translates to patient outcomes and no indication of economic benefit for this type of training over another method