Breaking Bad: An Assessment of Ophthalmologists' Interpersonal Skills and Training on Delivering Bad News

Purpose This article aims to assess ophthalmologists' practice patterns, experiences, and self-perceived skills when delivering bad news to patients and to compare this to patients' experience and preferences in receiving bad news from ophthalmologists. Design/Methods This is a prospective...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of academic ophthalmology (2017) 2018-01, Vol.10 (1), p.e83-e91
Main Authors: Fuerst, Nicole, Watson, Jessica, Langelier, Nicole, Atkinson, R., Ying, Gui-Shuang, Pan, Wei, Palladino, Vincent, Russell, Collin, Lin, Vanessa, Tapino, Paul, O'Brien, Joan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
breaking bad news
core competencies
medical education
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Summary:Purpose This article aims to assess ophthalmologists' practice patterns, experiences, and self-perceived skills when delivering bad news to patients and to compare this to patients' experience and preferences in receiving bad news from ophthalmologists. Design/Methods This is a prospective cross-sectional survey study of two populations: (1) Attending ophthalmologists and current ophthalmologists-in-training (N = 202) at accredited ophthalmology residency programs in the United States and Canada. (2) Patients (N = 151) 18 years of age and older at a single academic center who had received bad news from their ophthalmologist. An e-mail was sent to ophthalmology department chairs and resident program directors requesting that they distribute an online survey to their faculty, fellows, and residents. Patients were recruited from the clinics at an academic center and completed a self-administered survey before their scheduled appointments. Both populations were surveyed on their experience in breaking and receiving bad news, respectively. Questions were rated on a standard five-point Likert scale, and mean score was calculated for statistical comparison. The primary outcome variable was the quantitative rating (Likert scale 1–5) of physicians' communication skills when delivering bad news from physicians and patients' responses. Results Patients rated their physicians higher than physicians rated themselves with regard to ability to deliver bad news (mean score of 4.23 vs. 3.48, p 
ISSN:2475-4757
2475-4757
DOI:10.1055/s-0038-1667051