Drama Training as a Tool to Teach Medical Trainees Communication Skills: A Scoping Review

Introducing and validating DramaZoom as a teaching tool for diverse student populations

Dramatization, a teaching method where each student acts out or mimics a cell or body parts while the entire group represents the physiological process was adapted to produce original teaching videos paired with a pretest that activates memory and a posttest to prevent misconceptions. Three physiology instructors collaborated on Zoom to create six DramaZoom videos (Dramatization via Zoom) focused on hormone signaling with negative feedback in different contexts. In these videos, each instructor personalizes a different part of an organ system or a physiological process, which allows the visualization of complex concepts in endocrinology. DramaZoom videos utilize theater, personification, and humor to represent physiological processes in a fun and creative way that facilitates students to learn and remember the content. Our goal was to introduce DramaZoom videos as an original teaching tool and present evidence of its efficacy on student learning. We analyzed the impact of DramaZoom videos on students' knowledge acquisition at three distinct levels (1st year medical students, 3rd and 4th year undergraduate science students, and 1st year undergraduate nursing students) and investigated whether the mode of delivery of the videos (face to face during regular classroom teaching or asynchronous in a virtual classroom) affected student learning. Our data show that knowledge in all three student groups improved significantly after viewing DramaZoom videos independently of the mode of delivery. Our data indicate that DramaZoom videos combined with memory activation due to the pretest are an effective tool to instruct this cohort of students regardless of level and delivery mode.NEW & NOTEWORTHY DramaZoom is a teaching tool paired with a pretest to activate memory. It promotes learning for both medical students and undergraduate students with different majors in the study cohort. DramaZoom creates an opportunity for a fun learning experience that promotes knowledge gain in physiology regardless of whether the teaching setting is face to face or completely virtual. Future research will be done to investigate the long-term retention of content.

Joy and humanity in communication: A design-based research approach to developing and understanding the impact of a novel education programme on hospital staff, co-designed and facilitated by clown doctors

AIM

Clown doctors have a unique skill set and role, particularly in paediatric settings. Yet, there is limited research on whether clown doctors themselves could play a role in sharing these skills with health professionals. Acknowledging uncertainty in what our intervention should be, we used a design-based research (DBR) approach with the aim of (i) shaping the educational design and content of communication skills-based workshops for clinicians and (ii) understanding the educational impact on participants.

METHODS

Data were collected from initial key stakeholder consultations, then through the delivery of evolving iterations of the workshop in the form of post-workshop group discussions, follow-up short participant surveys and observations of the workshops themselves. Reflexive thematic analysis of group discussions and short survey responses was undertaken to understand the impact.

RESULTS

Forty participants participated in five workshops, including staff from medical, nursing, allied health and administrative backgrounds. Five educational principles emerged: self-awareness, curiosity, play, spirit and self-reflection. Four central themes regarding educational impact were generated: creating joy and breaking barriers; the heart, not the science of communication; workplace tensions challenge change; and communication training but not as we know it.

CONCLUSIONS

A novel education programme facilitated by clown doctors at a hospital offered unique communication skill learnings, while bringing joy and connection to the workplace through education. The DBR approach enabled this programme to be shaped, implemented, and evaluated, with the results attesting to the value of more novel approaches to communication training. The challenge remains to embed, sustain, and potentially scale the programme to other settings.

Development of an Actor Rehearsal Guide for Communication Skills Courses

BACKGROUND

Established models of serious illness communication training frequently include role play with simulated patient actors. Yet preparing for communication courses can feel challenging, as most faculty have minimal experience directing actors, and no literature exists to guide faculty in how to lead course rehearsals.

METHODS

A team of palliative care educators partnered with a seasoned acting teacher to design and implement a faculty guide for directing actors during communication course rehearsals. Their approach involved a series of brainstorming sessions, creation and piloting of a draft rehearsal guide and revisions based on actor and faculty feedback.

RESULTS

The actor rehearsal guide offers a stepwise approach to beginning a rehearsal, rehearsing a patient case, giving feedback to the actor and ensuring the actor responds appropriately to learners of varied skill levels. From early 2021 to late 2022, the team used the guide to prepare for 36 courses, which trained 446 clinicians. Faculty and actors noted that the guide fostered predictable and efficient rehearsals.

CONCLUSIONS

A novel actor rehearsal guide can support preparation for communication courses at a single institution. Next steps include disseminating the guide to other institutions and evaluating the guide's impact on faculty and actors' experience of rehearsals and learners' experience of training.