The Impact of Communication Skills Training on Cardiology Fellows' and Attending Physicians' Perceived Comfort with Difficult Conversations.

BACKGROUND: Cardiologists need to decide which treatments are appropriate for seriously ill patients and whether they align with patient goals. Reconciling medical options with patients' wishes requires skilled communication. Although there is evidence that communication is teachable, few cardiologists receive formal training.

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate that providing communication skills training to cardiologists is feasible and improves their perceived preparedness (PP) for leading difficult conversations.

METHODS: CardioTalk is a workshop to improve communication through short didactic sessions followed by interactions with standardized patients. Competencies include giving bad news, defining goals of care, responding to emotion, supporting religious beliefs, and withdrawing therapies. Settings/Subjects: First year cardiology fellows, heart failure fellows, and cardiac intensive care unit attendings.

MEASUREMENTS: Surveys evaluated the curriculum's efficacy and learners' PP before and after the workshop.

RESULTS: Eight cardiology attendings and 20 cardiology fellows participated. Eighty-nine percent reported having any prior education in communication. Fellows reported more prior education than attendings (100% vs. 62.5%, p = 0.017). Level of PP improved in all competencies for all learners. Ninety-six percent of respondents would recommend the training to peers. All attendings felt that it should be required for cardiologists in the cardiac intensive care unit and reported improved preparedness to teach communication to learners.

CONCLUSION: All learners improved in levels of PP in communication competencies. CardioTalk is the first described training program that prepares cardiologists for the challenges they face when having conversations with seriously ill patients.