Play-back theatre, theatre laboratory, and role-playing: new tools in investigating the patient-physician relationship in the context of continuing medical education courses.

AIM: The aim of this study was to report on the validation of a role-playing approach, using play-back and theatre laboratory in the context of a continuing medical education (CME) course on predialysis and transplantation, to discuss the patient-physician relationship. METHODS: The course was developed with the help of a theatre director. The role-playing 2-day course was designed to be highly interactive for a small group (15-20 participants), based on a core of case reports (dialysis, transplantation, and return to dialysis after graft failure). Two stages were included: play-back theatre in which experiences told by the participants were mimed by a group of actors, and theatre laboratory in which different aspects of voice and touch were explored. Opinions were gathered by an anonymous semistructured questionnaire completed by all participants. RESULTS: The course obtained a high score from The Ministry of Health (14 credits, 1 per teaching hour). The opinions of the 18 participants were highly positive; all liked the courses. Sixteen of 18 asked to repeat the experience. The strong emotional involvement was an advantage for 15 of 18, sharing emotional aspects of the profession for 10 of 18, and usefulness in clarifying opinions on "dark sides" of our profession for 10 of 18. CONCLUSION: The positive opinions recorded during this experience, the first experiment with a "psycho-theatrical approach" developed in a CME course in our country, suggest the benefit of implementing nonconventional, educational approaches in a multidisciplinary discussion of the patient-physician relationship in transplantation medicine.

Making a movie on kidney transplantation: a medical school graduation thesis to explain kidney transplantation from students to students.

The aim of this study was to report on the production and the opinions of a video movie on transplantation and organ donation. The video was developed by a medical school student with the help of the students and teachers of a high school for applied arts. For this task, the making of the video was included in the high school program of the participating class. The students were tutored by their photography teacher. The video movie lasts about 50 minutes. Each "scene" lasts no more than 5 minutes, to avoid reducing the attention level. The choice of a nonmedical frame helped to have some moments to digest the technical information and to stress the importance of the patient-physician relationship. The video was employed as a part of small-group lessons in the nephrology course. A semistructured anonymous questionnaire gathered the opinion of 65 students at the end of the lessons. Student satisfaction was high; the median score was the highest (8, range 6 to 10) for the lesson based upon the movie, as compared with the conventional ones on chronic kidney disease or dialysis (7, range 5 to 10). As far as the authors know, this is the first experiment of a multimedia approach, dedicated to medical and nonmedical targets, developed as a graduation thesis in an Italian Medical School. In conclusion, the positive opinions of the students, who highly appreciated the peer-developed message, may suggest implementing such nonconventional educational approaches to support human resources and enthusiasm for kidney transplantation among the new generations.

Continuing education in medicine: a useful tool for nurses' empowerment in renal transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Continuing Education in Medicine (CEM) underlines the importance of updates and information for the health care team. Our aim was to describe the organization and results of a CEM course "educate to organ donation" that involved the nursing team in an educational experience with high school students. The course consists of theory (4 hours; the physician-patient relationship, the educational role of the nurse, the teaching policy, checklist, and results of a school education program) and practice (10 hours; the attendants join the teaching team in the classrooms and in the plenary session). Analysis of anonymous questionnaires performed after the course contained semistructured questions and analog scales. RESULTS: The first acknowledgment came from the Cabinet of Public Health, which gave the maximum number of credits (14 for 14 education hours). PARTICIPATION: presently 40 nurses, about 40% of those working in the renal unit (over 30 CEM courses are available in the hospital). Satisfaction: Overall score was median 8.5 (6 to 10) including teaching materials = 8 (4 to 10). Among the theoretical part, the lesson on patient-physician relationship obtained the highest score. The main drawback was the shortness of the practical part. The classroom meeting achieved a median score of 9.5 (7 to 10), the general session = 9 (5 to 10). All but one nurse registered for an "advanced" course, giving more time to the practical part (20 hours). CONCLUSION: CEM may represent an important way to deliver education on transplant-related issues to patients and to the general population.