Implementation of "social and communicative competencies" in medical education. The importance of curriculum, organisational and human resource development.

OBJECTIVE: With this article we want to support teachers and curriculum planners to be aware of and apply knowledge and recommendations of organisational (OD), curriculums (CD) and human resource development (HRD) ideas already in the planning phase of a project. Taking these into account can influence the process of change successfully and controlled during the introduction and establishment of curricula in the field of communication and social skills in medical education. APPROACH AND RESULTS: In the context of a multi-stage developmental process, a recommendation on CD for "Communicative and social competencies" was developed. The basis for it was made during two workshops of the GMA-committee "Communicative and social competencies" and supplemented by the available literature and the experience of communication experts. The "Undeloher Recommendation" (see attachment ) includes a compilation of recommendations and guiding questions, which is geared to the various phases of CD. Additionally, general approaches and recommendations of organisational and human resource development were integrated, which turned out to be particularly relevant in the process of CD. Thus, the "Undeloher recommendation" includes an orientation for each phase of the curriculum development process, the organisation and the staff in order to successfully implement a longitudinal curriculum. In addition to theoretical models the long-term discussion process and the personal experiences of a variety of curriculum planners and teachers have been integrated. CONCLUSION: The "Undeloher recommendation" can support the implementation processes of curricula in communication and social skills during development and realisation. Its application was reviewed in the context of workshops based on concrete examples. The participating teachers and curriculum planners assessed it to be very helpful. The recommendation goes beyond of what has been described in terms of content models in the CD so fare. In particular, the organisational and human resource development related aspects such as the formation of a steering committee and recommendations for the phase of sustainability.

Designing Learning Outcomes for Handoff Teaching of Medical Students Using Group Concept Mapping: Findings From a Multicountry European Study.

PURPOSE: To develop, by consultation with an expert group, agreed learning outcomes for the teaching of handoff to medical students using group concept mapping. METHOD: In 2013, the authors used group concept mapping, a structured mixed-methods approach, applying both quantitative and qualitative measures to identify an expert group's common understanding about the learning outcomes for training medical students in handoff. Participants from four European countries generated and sorted ideas, then rated generated themes by importance and difficulty to achieve. The research team applied multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis to analyze the themes. RESULTS: Of 127 experts invited, 45 contributed to the brainstorming session. Twenty-two of the 45 (48%) completed pruning, sorting, and rating phases. They identified 10 themes with which to select learning outcomes and operationally define them to form a basis for a curriculum on handoff training. The themes "Being able to perform handoff accurately" and "Demonstrate proficiency in handoff in workplace" were rated as most important. "Demonstrate proficiency in handoff in simulation" and "Engage with colleagues, patients, and carers" were rated most difficult to achieve. CONCLUSIONS: The study identified expert consensus for designing learning outcomes for handoff training for medical students. Those outcomes considered most important were among those considered most difficult to achieve. There is an urgent need to address the preparation of newly qualified doctors to be proficient in handoff at the point of graduation; otherwise, this is a latent error within health care systems. This is a first step in this process.