Teaching Medical Students How to Break Bad News: A Turkish Experience

Background. To assess the effect of teaching breaking bad news. Methods. The session incorporated brainstorming, presentation, discussion, small-group exercises using standardized patients. Course was evaluated through a pre-objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), first post-OSCE (post-OSCE1), second post-OSCE (post-OSCE2) (6th month), and questionnaires. Results. Pre-OSCE, post-OSCE1, post-OSCE2 scores: preparing the environment 5.83 +/- 0.23, 7.93 +/- 0.19, 9.78 +/- 0.07; understanding what patient knows and wants to learn 1.83 +/- 0.33, 6.47 +/- 0.27, 9.68 +/- 0.11; giving information 3.25 +/- 0.34, 7.43 +/- 0.19, 9.67 +/- 0.10; developing empathy 2.50 +/- 0.32, 6.92 +/- 0.28, 9.87 +/- 0.06; closing the interview 2.28 +/- 0.28, 6.98 +/- 0.25, 9.83 +/- 0.07. The differences between OSCEs were significant. In the questionnaire, 54.1% of 146 students perceived more competent. Conclusions. Course seems beneficial.