Institute for Doctor-Patient Communication - Accomplishments

There have been a number of exciting developments at the Institute for Doctor-Patient Communication:

1. In late 2003, Dr. Arthur Levine approved an Institute on Doctor-Patient Communication. He thought that promoting research and education required more than just one position at the School of Medicine. He also was convinced that there was growing support at the School for the topic and that the Institute would serve as a catalyst. Robert Arnold, MD, assumed the role of director of the Institute. He quickly named two associate directors: Bruce Ling, MD Assistant Professor of Medicine to be in charge of research, and Laurel Milberg, PhD Associate Professor of Family Medicine to be in charge of education. After surveying the available resources at the University, a steering committee was named, consisting of respected and internally renowned members of the School of Medicine and Graduate School of Public Health. The goal of the Institute is to promote education and research in provider-patient communication in the Schools of Health Sciences. In six months, we have developed an infrastructure, a logo, distributed a survey to faculty regarding their interest in the field, developed requirements for core and affiliated faculty, and identified priority items for our first year. We also started a weekly educational e-mail and a monthly education and research meeting, both of which have received positive feedback. In May, we convened our first annual meeting. More than 40 people from the Schools of the Health Sciences and the School of Arts and Sciences attended a full day conference. The conference consisted of talks on recent research in provider-patient communication as well as a presentation on how to teach giving bad news. We also spent three hours brainstorming how the Institute could help faculty achieve their research and educational goals. Based on this meeting, we are developing an e-mail list serve, an electronic bulletin board, and a mentoring program to help junior investigators obtain research funding to study doctor-patient communication.
2. To support the Institute's endeavor, Dr. Levine has committed over $100,000.00 to help support junior investigators hoping to do research in doctor-patient communication. We will initiate a grant application process to ensure that the best research is supported. These grants will begin in the fall with a University- wide publicity campaign to ensure that we have the best and brightest applying for them.
3. In recognition of the School of Medicine's national standing in the field, the leading organization in doctor-patient communication, the American Academy of Physician and Patient, held its national meeting in Pittsburgh from June 12, 2004 - June 17, 2004. Nationally recognized speakers such as Rita Charon, MD, PhD from Columbia University, Barbara Howard, MD from Johns Hopkins University, Robert Light, MD from the University of New Jersey Medical Center, and Richard Frankel, PhD from the University of Indiana gave plenary presentations regarding the state of the art of doctor-patient communication. More than 70 faculty from around the country participated in the conference, which prepared them to better teach communication skills at their medical schools. The evaluations from the meeting were highly compliementary.
4. Our research efforts in doctor-patient communication continue to expand. Robert Arnold is involved in two NIH- funded grants: one to train oncology fellows to communicate regarding end-of-life issues; the other to assess whether giving oncologists feedback about their communication skills improves their subsequent communication with patients. Other members of the Institute are successfully submitting and receiving funding for research, ranging from communication regarding colorectal screening to how physicians talk about congestive heart failure to how psychiatrists talk with patients with depressive illness. Other junior faculty have submitted grants to study communication about domestic violence and Hepatitis C. Core Institute faculty are also developing courses to ensure that students learn the research methods needed to study doctor-patient communication. It is exciting that in three short years, we have developed a cadre of researchers focusing on doctor-patient communication.
5. Our education projects are also expanding. Laurel Milberg's first course continues to receive extraordinarily high ratings from the students. The 3rd third year internal medicine and family medicine clerkship directors are working with us to assess students' communications skills during their clerkship, The School of Medicine is evaluating students skills-in both the second and fourth year-in day- long assessments that are required for the students to move forward with their training. Finally, we have been teaching a course to fellows on teaching communication skills that is the highest- ranked course in their curriculum.

All in all, it has been a very busy and successful last three years. Our plans for the upcoming year are to continue our growth in our educational and research missions. Funding the pilot grants and helping junior investigators move on to federal or foundation support is a high priority. We also will continue to work to develop an integrated four- year curriculum in doctor-patient communication for the medical school.