Table 3 Participants’ assessment of the communication with their patients before the training course

1. Initiate a discussion with a patient about his or her concern

2.75

±1.05

2. Elicit a patient’s viewpoint on health condition and treatments

2.94

±1.78

3. Elicit a patient’s reasons for this viewpoint

3.5

±1.33

4. Explain to a patient the reasons in support of a medical recommendation

2.94

±1.29

5. Manage collusion (1): when a patient disagrees with the diagnosis

4.73

±2.06

6. Manage collusion (2): when a patient disagrees with a treatment proposal

4.07

±2.05

7. Manage collusion (3): when a patient has medically inaccurate beliefs

3.62

±1.37

8. Explore a patient’s intense feelings like anger

4.31

±1.55

9. Break bad news to a patient

3.43

±1.58

10. Help a patient deal with the uncertainty of his or her situation

3.25

±1.73

11. Assess symptoms of anxiety and depression

2.81

±1.56

12. Conclude a patient interview with an agreed problem list and a plan for action

3.19

±1.71^a