Table 3 Content of curriculum

Create and sustain a therapeutic relationship with patients and families

Structuring the consultation

• Opening the discussion by setting the agenda and expectations [16, 22, 126, 160,161,162]

• Utilising simple, clear language and effective questioning skills [17, 102, 114, 163, 164] to gather information [37, 119, 126, 131, 161]

• Sharing information effectively [131, 161, 165]

• Checking patient understanding [165, 166]

• Shared decision making [103, 126, 129, 149, 160, 162, 165, 167]

• Providing closure to consult [126, 161, 162]

• Summarising [22]

Building the physician-patient relationship

• Making patient/patient’s family feel at ease [153, 168, 169]

• Showing empathy [36, 37, 102, 111, 114, 138, 152, 153, 164, 166, 167, 170, 171]

• Showing respect [102,103,104]

• Convey understanding of concerns [153]

• Understanding the patient’s perspective [102, 126, 134, 153, 162, 164,165,166, 169, 171, 172]

• Eliciting patient’s wishes, needs, concerns and expectations [16, 163, 170, 172, 173]

• Identifying patient's health literacy levels [174]

• Motivational interviewing and counselling [37, 116, 140, 165, 174,175,176]

• Employing verbal and non-verbal skills [22, 134, 138, 163, 164, 173]

• Listening skills [17, 102, 138, 147, 163, 164, 171]

• Non-judgmental communication [147]

• Managing patients’ emotions [3, 11, 17, 22, 118, 129, 138, 160, 173, 177]

• Culturally and linguistically appropriate communication [99, 102, 140, 147, 152, 163, 171]

• How to interact when patient’s relatives are present [118]

• How to communicate with patient indirectly through interpreters [36, 175] or over telephone consultations [34]

• Communication with adolescents [34]

• Communicating with 'difficult' patients or family members [151, 163] or emotional patients [34, 111, 114, 146, 162, 175]

• Handling family conflict [153]

• Dealing with mismatched expectations [16]

• Conducting family discussions [149, 178]

• Communication clarity [163]

Context-specific skills

• End-of-life communication

◦ Using the word ‘dying’ [125]

◦ Conducting goals of care and advance care planning conversations [16, 92, 124, 171, 177, 179,180,181]

◦ Discussing pain management [180]

◦ Eliciting Do Not Resuscitate orders [109, 182]

◦ Responding to euthanasia requests [16]

◦ Sharing prognostic information with patients [16, 105, 107, 114, 129]

◦ Preparing for death [16, 129]

◦ Managing patient’s reactions [139, 177, 183]

◦ Maintaining patient's welfare [183]

◦ Supporting patient’s decision [179]

◦ Offering organ donation [92]

◦ Pronouncing death [5]

• Difficult conversations with seriously ill patients [13, 184]

◦ Explaining a patient’s worsening condition [153]

◦ Explaining that treatments are not indicated [36, 153]

◦ Discussing whether to forego life-sustaining treatment [124]

◦ Transitioning to palliative care [3, 36, 114, 133, 149, 153]

• Breaking Bad News [3, 6, 7, 11, 12, 32, 36, 108, 113,114,115, 118, 119, 124, 127, 129,130,131, 133, 139, 141, 146, 149, 151,152,153, 162, 163, 170, 173, 175, 178, 185,186,187,188]

◦ Utilising the SPIKES framework [34, 92, 115, 116, 121, 141, 142, 152, 179, 188]

◦ Disclosure of medical complications [6, 32, 137]

• Navigating situations with ethical issues [131]

• Disclosure of medical errors and apology [36, 92, 99, 127, 151, 189]

• Discussing risks/benefits of procedures and obtaining informed consent [6, 119, 146, 151, 165, 170, 186]

• New medication and discharge counselling [99]

Work effectively as a member or leader of a health care team

• Managing disagreements between colleagues [111]

• Working with ‘difficult’ colleagues [163]

• Oral presentations and giving feedback [7, 190, 191]

• Leadership skills [36, 153]

• Interprofessional communication [7, 99, 111, 190,191,192,193]

• Writing skills, especially for documentation [194]

• Persuasive communication [176]

• Reporting findings in a letter to the general practitioner [169]