Conducting medical education research related to communication in healthcare

Background: Research about teaching and learning of communication skills in health care has some specific characteristics. Therefore learning how to take these typical aspects that need to be taken into account when conducting medical educational research about communication in healthcare is important. Workshop objectives: At the end of the workshop participants will be able to explain the concepts typically used in research of medical education about communication skills in health care. This means that the following concepts will be addressed: theoretical models, educational interventions, assessment, research designs, outcome measures, etc. Furthermore participants can demonstrate the consecutive steps. They will have practiced: formulating a good and precise research question, applying adequate research methods (qualitative, quantitative, mixed-method design, etc.), analyzing the results and listing how and where to submit a scientific paper. Finally, participants will have exchanged experience and expertise with other participants as well as with the facilitators. Workshop format: The workshop will start with collecting the expectations and learning needs from participants, followed by an introduction into medical education research issues. Parallel groups will then be formed based on the specific subjects of interest. During the small group work participants will be stimulated to work interactively and they will get the opportunity to discuss their own experienced difficulties. Finally in a plenary session the results from the small group work will be shared and some specific points of interest related to medical educational research will be addressed. Timeline: • Introduction 10 min • Gathering the expectations from participants 20 min • Introduction into medical education research issues 30 min • Small group work 30 min Formulating a research question and proper research design • BREAK 15 min • Small group work 30 min Choosing the adequate outcome measures and data analysis • Presenting results of small group work 40 min • Closing the session 5 minstatus: publishe