Listening to Cancer Patients’ Narratives During Residency: A Pilot Study on a Communication Skills’ Workshop Involving Patients-Partners

The field of cancer care still lacks best practices in communication. Few postgraduate training programs offer formal training to develop such skills. The patient partnership has been used in medical education to increase the sensitivity of the subjective experiences of patients. In our Canadian center, residents and patient-partners participated in an educational workshop on communication focusing on patient's narrative. The aim of this pilot qualitative study was to explore the experiences of participants in the workshop. Using theoretical sampling, we recruited 6 residents and 6 patient-partners. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and transcribed. A thematic analysis was performed. From analysis, 4 themes emerged: (1) lack of communication skills training; (2) barriers to effective communication in cancer care; (3) the empathy of patient-partners towards the communication challenges faced by residents; and (4) the participants’ reactions to the workshop. Based on our findings, our communication skills workshop centered on narrative medicine and involving patient-partners appears feasible. Future research could study its pedagogical value and the optimal learning environment required.