135 - Effective Communication Curriculum for Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Residents using Improvisation Techniques

Friday, February 23, 2024

5:00 PM – 6:30 PM EDT

Presenting Author(s)

OA

Ovuokerie Addoh, MD, PhD

Asst. Professor
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington, United States
EB

Evan Banks, BS

Medical Student
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Co-Author(s)

JC

John Casnovsky, DO

Pain Fellow
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, Minnesota, United States
JD

Joy Anne Dolo, n/a

Actor
University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
LS

Luverne Seifert, n/a

Senior Teaching Specialist
University of Minnesota Department of Theater Arts and Dance
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Erica Seidel, MD (she/her/hers)

Staff Physiatrist
Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Brionn K. Tonkin, MD

Assistant Professor; Residency Program Director
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Objectives: As leaders of multidisciplinary teams, it is essential for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) clinicians to build trustworthy relationships with patients through effective communication. In the summer of 2020, our PM&R residency program sought for new ways to further equip residents with tools for sensitive communication. We hypothesized that a medical improvisation course (“Improv”), for which there has been growing interest in medical education, could enhance residents' self-rated competence with reflective communication. The goal of this brief report is to analyze feedback from a structured improv course delivered to resident participants and discuss the potential role for medical improv in residency education based on our experience.

Design: We designed 10 longitudinal workshops for 19 first to fourth-year PM&R residents in our program, led by an interdisciplinary group of resident champions and staff from the liberal arts department with professional Improv experience. Each hour-long session was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents completed an online survey with Likert-style and open-ended questions to assess their perceptions of improv before and after the workshop.

Results: 12 of 19 (63%) residents completed the final survey. 9 of 12 (75%) felt improv, in general, could make them better physicians. 7 of 12 (58%) residents felt that the course improved their overall communication skills such as listening, responding to stressful situations, and teamwork. Based on qualitative feedback, most residents thought the workshop helped them improve core interpersonal skills such as reflective listening and confidence in handling ambiguous situations. However, they recommended that future iterations be held in person and include more clinically relevant scenarios.

Conclusions: If delivered in an appropriate manner, improv theater exercises can complement traditional curricula to improve PM&R physician communication.