Main description:

This book aims to help readers develop a consulting style which focuses on the needs of the patient rather than resorting to a formulaic approach to questioning.

It helps readers to display the competences required to pass the CSA exam. Using patient-doctor dialogues, the reader is shown both positive and negative indicators for a broad array of consultation types. The reflective style used in the book will help the doctor identify which aspects of the competences tested in the examination they need to improve.

The book will also help you to avoid these common problems:

Disorganised or unstructured consultation
Not recognising the issues or priorities
Showing poor time management
Not appearing to develop rapport or show awareness of patient's agenda and preferences
Poor active listening skills and use of cues
Not developing a shared plan
Not using language that is relevant and understandable to the patient.

The book is structured with the patient, rather than the disease, at the centre of the consultation, in keeping with the design of the CSA examination. The style of writing is aimed at encouraging self-learning, to avoid readers picking up formulaic habits.

Patient-Centred Consulting for the MRCGP brings together lifelike patient-doctor dialogues with the RCGP competency framework. It will help improve your daily consultations through a reflective understanding of the skills required to put the patient first.

Contents:

1. Introduction

2. Why it's difficult to pass the CSA without developing fluency in patient-centredness

3. Understanding the skills assessed in the CSA

4. How to understand the patient's perspective without using formulaic questions

5. Achieving patient-centredness regardless of the nature of the clinical problem

6. The patient's understanding and experience

7. Managing uncertainty, sharing risks

8. How to use the patient's perspective to find a practical solution

9. Data gathering to develop understanding of the problem and the patient simultaneously

10. Offering management options using the patient's understanding

11. Dealing with a specialist clinical problem using patient-centredness

12. Discovering the reason for a patient's attendance

13. Mutually agreed plan using the patient's perspective

14. Making ethical decisions using patient-centredness

15. Building the history around the patient's experience

16. Undifferentiated problems and dealing with uncertainty

17. The patient's uniqueness

18. Understanding the patient's preferences

19. Problem solving using the patient's perspectives

20. Are hidden agendas the unexplored views of patients?

21. Making decisions using the patient's understanding

22. Discovering the reason for patient attendance using active listening

23. Improving time management using the patient's understanding

24. Patient perspective elicited later in the consultation

25. Health beliefs

26. Impact of the problem and the influence on decisions

27. Dealing with discordance and the patient's health beliefs

28. The patient's views

29. Shared understanding, shared thoughts

30. Encouraging the patient's contribution to improve explanations

31. The patient's context

32. Discovering the decision that the patient has attended to resolve

33. Dealing with vague symptoms using patient-centredness

34. Mutual negotiation

35. Dealing with a discordant request

36. Reassuring patients

37. Explaining a diagnosis

38. Checking the patient's understanding

References