Utilizing Chamber Music to Teach Non-Verbal Communication to Medical Students: A Pilot Initiative

Introduction The importance of non-verbal cues in communication between physicians and patients is well published in the medical literature. However, few medical school curricula teach non-verbal communication. Chamber musicians employ non-verbal communication to coordinate musician intention. Observation of chamber musicians’ use of non-verbal communication may improve the understanding of non-verbal communication among medical students. Methods A total of 72 medical students attended rehearsals of two world-renowned string quartets on a single date. Following a brief discussion and demonstration on non-verbal communication by musicians, students observed the non-verbal cues employed by the quartets during musical rehearsals. Authors provided pre- and post-surveys, which included closed and open-ended questions to assess understanding of non-verbal communication and confidence in identifying non-verbal cues with patients and healthcare providers. Close-ended questions used numerical scales. The authors used paired t-tests to compare mean numerical scores pre- and post-intervention and analyzed qualitative, open-ended responses thematically. Results Of the 72 students who attended the workshop, 63 (88%) completed both pre- and post-surveys. Comparison demonstrated significant improvement in students’ ability to appreciate non-verbal interactions among healthcare teams (p<0.05) and patients (p<0.05). Following the workshop, students commented that they appreciated the similarities in non-verbal cues between musicians and medical professionals. Discussion Chamber musicians and physicians share similarities, e.g., working in teams and performing specialized tasks; good communication is crucial to both. Observation of chamber musicians may serve as a vehicle to instruct medical students on non-verbal communication. Next steps include determining the longer-term impact of the workshop on confidence in communication by resurveying participants and comparing responses with those students who did not attend the workshop. Future studies are needed to assess the clinical impact of chamber music observation on medical students’ non-verbal communication skills.