Methods of teaching medical students about the management and impact of their emotions in future patient care: A scoping review of the literature.

ID: 302
Abstract Type: Poster
Topics: Relationships and connection, Educational approaches
Keywords: Emotion skills training, Medical education; Self-directed emotions, Scoping review protocol, medical students, Medical Curriculum
Background: Emotions of all involved in the clinical encounter are at the core of the clinical care process. However, a gap remains in teaching medical students how to recognise and deal with their own emotions.
Objectives: This systematic scoping review aims to identify what approaches have been implemented in medical education programs to teach medical students the skills to identify and manage the emotions they may experience in the physician-patient relationship and in the clinical environment.
Design: This scoping review follows the updated JBI methodology guidance for the conduct and reporting of systematic scoping reviews, and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR).
Methods: We developed a search strategy combining terms related to the population (medical students, trainees, or residents), exposure (medical education, teaching methods, (undergraduate) curriculum) and outcomes (emotion regulation, psychological wellbeing, mental health) and applied the terms to five databases. Initially, 6726 references were included for abstract and title screening, of which 716 full-texts were reviewed. Data from the final included studies (n>140) is being extracted for analyses. The extraction tool includes a combination of items from the TIDieR and the PAGER frameworks, along with additional variables added by the authors.
Results: Based on the data extracted so far, studies have employed a variety of designs including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods, using diverse teaching methods including lectures, reflective rounds, or reflective writing. Delivery formats comprise different modalities, teaching various aspects of emotions and emotion skills such as the meaning of death for students, guilt, or shame. The studies have targeted medical students all the way from year 1 to clinical years, as well as samples mixing medical students from different years. Other studies have mixed medical students with junior doctors or with students from other professions (e.g. social work, nursing).
Conclusion: The results of this scoping review will provide a novel overview of teaching methods employed to prepare medical students to identify and manage their own emotions in the clinical environment. The results will also support the development and implementation of training programs.
Funding: This review is being funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).