patient communication

(Lifespan) A new training program for emergency department staff at Rhode Island Hospital teaches communication skills by having staff take part in simulations of real patient experiences.

The goal is to improve the patient experience by standardizing both team and patient communication in an emergency department setting.

The program will be presented at the 12th Annual International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare in San Diego, Calif.

When Aaron Laviana started medical school at Georgetown University in 2007, he dissected a cadaver in his first week, in anatomy class.

Today, classes such as "Physician-Patient Communication" and "Social and Cultural Issues in Health Care" come first.

Dissection doesn't begin until month four at...