Training final year medical students in telephone communication and prioritization skills: An evaluation in the simulated environment

Abstract

Introduction: Receiving clinical tasks via the telephone and correctly prioritizing job lists are integral to patient safety. However, structured training on these skills is currently lacking in many medical curriculums. This study evaluated the impact of telephone communication and prioritization training on the ability of final year medical students to carry out these skills during an on-call simulation.

Methods: Twenty-five final year King’s College London medical students underwent a training session focused on telephone communication and task prioritization (group A). The performance of group A students in an on-call simulation involving these tasks was compared with twenty-five untrained final year students (group B). All participants completed a questionnaire about their training and/or simulation experience.

Results: Group A compared to B students asked for more task-related information during each simulated call and correctly prioritized the resultant job list on significantly more occasions. Significantly more group A students reported being confident in answering calls and prioritizing their lists. The majority of students supported the addition of telephone communication and prioritization training into the medical curriculum.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates the educational benefit of structured teaching on the ability of final year medical students to receive telephone handovers and prioritize job lists.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the King’s College Research Ethics Committee (Number: LRS-1718-5659).

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Lesa Kearney for her participation in the simulation sessions and the technician team at the Chantler SaIL center for their involvement in running the simulations.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Glossary

Bleep: A short high-pitched sound made by an electronic device as a signal or to attract attention. In the medical context electronic devices which bleep are carried by members of the healthcare team to allow another person to contact them. Typically, the electronic device will emit a bleep and display the telephone extension number of any caller so that the holder of the device may contact them when able.

Oxford English Dictionaries. Bleep (noun). 2019. Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/bleep [accessed 2009 Apr 14].

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Josephine Seale

Dr. Josephine Seale, PhD, MSc, MSc, MBBS, BSc, has a background in medicine and research with a number of publications in medical education. She currently works as clinical skills teaching fellow and lead researcher in the clinical skills department at GKT School of Medical Education with an interest in interprofessional teaching and high-fidelity simulation.

Sophie C. Ragbourne

Dr. Sophie Ragbourne, MBBS, BSc, currently works as an A&E doctor as well as clinical skills teaching fellow at GKT School of Medical Education. She has an interest in research and is due to commence anesthetics training in August 2019.

Nicola Purkiss Bejarano

Nicola Purkiss Bejarano, BSc, PGCert, is both an experienced A&E nurse and clinical skills teaching fellow at GKT School of Medical Education with a specific interest in interprofessional education. She is also part of the UK emergency medical team for international disaster response.

Ranjana Raj

Dr. Ranjana Raj, MBBS, BSc, is a doctor and previous clinical skills teaching fellow at GKT School of Medical Education. She is interested in medical education especially in relation to the transition from undergraduate to postgraduate training. She is currently working in medical practice in Australia.

Lewis Whittingham

Dr. Lewis Whittingham, MBBS, BSc, is a previous clinical skills fellow at GKT School of Medical Education who is presently training to be a general practitioner. He has an interest in medical education and was involved in numerous research projects in the clinical skills department.

Sabina Ikram

Dr. Sabina Ikram, MBBS, BMedSci, MRCGP, is a general practitioner and previous clinical skills teaching fellow at GKT School of Medical Education. She has an interest in high-fidelity simulation and has been involved in a number of research projects in the clinical skills department.

Colin Butchers

Colin Butchers, BA, PGCert, has a clinical background in nursing with many years’ experience in A&E. He joined the GKT School of Medical Education in 2012 and is now the clinical skills lead. He is involved in the continual development of clinical skills teaching with a specific interest in high fidelity simulation.