Workshops to improve doctor-patient communication

Over semester 5 last year, the year 3 medical students at the University of Luxembourg had the opportunity to develop their doctor-patient communication skills, and to train on various profiles of patients: the depressed patient, the taciturn patient, the talkative patient, the aggressive patient. To this end, two professional actors, Ms Monique Melsen and Ms Valérie Bodson, took part in a workshop in order to embody the different types of "standardised" patients with a maximum of realism.

The workshops were designed by two highly experienced professionals: Dr. Charles Benoy (psychologist) and Dr. Gilles Michaux (psychotherapist). The students also had a special workshop led by Dr. Bernard Thill (pioneer in palliative care in Luxembourg) on how to deliver bad news.

Besides this, three more workshops were organised involving psychologists and the actors.