About Communication Skills

= > Pls Click for SP Workshops to improve communication skills

The quality of communication between healthcare provider and patient has a critical impact on the outcome of the treatment process.  It influences how patients understand their diagnosis and carry out the recommended treatment plan, as well as their rate of recovery and overall satisfaction. 

The Simulated Patient Unit trains medical professionals in communication skills essential for their practices, to help them achieve effective and compassionate interactions with their patients.

The unit develops and conducts a wide range of training activities and scenarios to improve and promote human skills in general, and clinical communication skills in particular.

The goal of these programs is to catalyze meaningful changes in communication and clinical behavior that endure over the short and long-term.

MSR engages some 150 role-playing actors of various ages, from adolescents to the elderly. The actors are specially trained to represent a variety of characters found in different encounters with medical caregivers: patients, family members, team members or other colleagues.

The role-playing actors participate in a variety of simulations, each of which is a platform for learning, practicing and improving communication and clinical skills.  These include delivering bad news, obtaining informed consent, coping with refusal of treatment, apologizing for a mistake, and practicing of neurological tests on a patient, among many others.

After participating in a simulation scenario, the trainees receive feedback from the actors, their colleagues and MSR staff, based on direct observations and video recordings.

The SP unit creates custom-simulations for a large and broad client base – organizations that choose to partner with MSR to improve the professional performance of their staff.

Among MSR’s regular clients are regulatory organizations (i.e. Ministry of Health, Ministry of Defense, Social Security Administration), all of the hospitals and HMOs in Israel, faculties of medicine, medical associations, IDF, Magen David Adom and more.

Communication Skills

The goal of training in communication skills is to change behaviors in the long term, and to provide practical tools and models for coping with challenging situations. MSR offers a wide range of focused simulation activities to improve communication skills for the entire spectrum of medical professionals, from medical school candidates to senior practitioners in the field.

Clinical Skills

The SP Unit offers simulation activities using role-playing actors, designed to teach and reinforce specific clinical skills, including conducting cardiovascular, neurological and other exams, taking a medical history, and briefing and preparing a patient for a medical procedure, among many others. These activities enable participants to gain real, hands-on experience, and receive immediate feedback from the patient/actor and then group feedback during the debriefing. This platform is also used to prepare candidates for the USMLE certification exam and for end-of-year OSCE for medical students (London Program).