Abstract Details

Breaking bad news is a vital skill taught within the medical school curriculum and further crafted throughout a lifetime of practice. In a hospital environment where caregiver access is restricted, it is especially important to engage family members effectively by utilizing available resources. We devised a method for clinical medical students to practice delivering bad news over telehealth.

1. To utilize remote learning environment with clinical medical students

2. To incorporate the SPIKES model for delivering bad news 

3. To address caregiver distress over telehealth

Students learned how to deliver bad news using the SPIKES model. The students discussed three patient scenarios in team-based-learning using simulated medical records. 

Standardized patients (SP) were recruited from community actor volunteers. The SP portrayed the primary caregiver for a hospitalized family member with a new life-threatening neurological illness. Each SP's script included an element of emotional distress. The SP had restricted visitation to the hospitalized patient and received bad news from the student over telehealth. 

Students were provided constructive feedback from both the SP and the off-screen facilitator. Learners rated the activity and could review playback for self-assessment. 

With the need for novel curriculum development during this pandemic, this module successfully taught the SPIKES model and how to perform a telehealth encounter. It mirrored the real caregiver distress we see in this new normal of pandemic visitation restriction in the hospital. The experience was universally received as being a useful prerequisite for the new clinical learning environment.