Medische Communicatie in Onderzoek en Onderwijs

While there is a long tradition of conducting research on medical communication, one may question in what way practicing physicians and courses for medical students will profit from it. The first part of our paper presents a short overview of 40 years of research, focusing on concepts of patient-centered care and shared decision-making. Pros and cons two co-existing traditions, process analysis and micro-analysis, are described. The second part of the paper presents the development of cognitive scripts in communication skills training in medical education. The differences between perspectives angles and educational perspectives are elaborated on. The third part of the paper describes the method and effects of the practical learning of new scripts for patient centeredness in the case of non-Western immigrant patients. Although education in communication skills definitely profits from research, daily practice seems to be much more complex, not in the least because of cultural differences.