Using videoed simulated clinical interaction to promote communication skills and reflective practice for overseas-born medical students

This paper describes a teaching intervention designed to promote the clinical communications skills of overseas-born medical students through critical reflection on the practice of others. Using a staged process and a video recording of a simulated medical interaction it investigated the extent to which the participants were able to anticipate, identify and resolve the targeted communication issues, and demonstrate selected skills in a simulated interaction. Data comprised worksheet notes, transcriptions (group discussions) and completed questionnaires (ratings and comments). Analysis was thematic (worksheet notes, transcription, questionnaire feedback) and quantitative (questionnaire ratings). The results suggest the notion of reflective practice could be productively extended to take account of current developments in pedagogy and learning. This includes providing opportunities for students to share ideas, resolve differences and ambiguities, and address gaps in their communication skills as well as to apply learned concepts and receive targeted feedback. While the intervention specifically targeted overseas-born medical students, the approach described in the paper has potential for developing the communication skills of 'local' medical students and healthcare professionals more generally.