Lifelong Learning Indicators in Medical Students After a Novel Communication Skills Session.

A growth mindset and mastery approach have gained attention as useful learning orientations in medical education, however few studies of interventions to foster these orientations exist. We sought to discover whether a communication skills session on delivering serious news could foster a communication growth mindset and/or a mastery approach in medical students. This was an interventional survey study of third-year medical students before and after a session on delivering serious news. Students were administered a communication mindset survey before and after the session; achievement goal and learning environment surveys were administered after the session. Chi-square tests were used to assess the difference in pre and post mindsets. Logistic regression was used to determine the odds of achieving a mastery approach with pre- and post-communication growth mindset as the independent variables. Students' communication growth mindset increased from 79% (n=186) before the intervention to 92% (n=142) after the intervention. Achievement goal analysis demonstrated that 64% (n=91) of students had a mastery approach, 14% (n=20) had a performance approach and 22% (n=32) had an avoidant approach. Ninety-nine percent (n=151) felt the session provided a safe learning environment. The odds of having a mastery approach correlated with both pre and post-intervention growth mindset, with post-session growth mindset having the strongest correlation. A novel communication skills session on delivering serious news fostered a communication growth mindset in third year medical students. Most students exhibited a mastery approach to learning; this approach was more likely when they had a growth mindset.

Informations de copyright

Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Disclosures The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.