The Medical Council of India (MCI) has introduced teaching of communication, ethics and attitude through Attitude, Ethics and Communication (AETCOM) modules to address a long-felt deficit in the MBBS curriculum, according to Vinod Paul, member, NITI Aayog and Chairman of Board of Governors (BoG) of Medical Council of India.
He was participating virtually in the launch of a book, “Effective Medical Communication: The A, B, C, D, E of it” edited by Subhash Chandra Parija, Vice Chancellor of Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth (SBV) and B.V. Adkoli, medical educationist. The book launch was hosted online by medical publisher Springer Nature.
Dr. Paul said conventional medical education had sub-optimal provisions for imparting such crucial skills. This has frequently led to doctors and members of the healthcare delivery system to resort to the use of indigenously acquired communication skills by merely observing their seniors. Now, the MCI sought to address the gap with the first step of introducing AETCOM modules.
He also laid emphasis on effective communication as a means to enhance patient-doctor relationship, besides improving patient satisfaction.
Dr. Paul welcomed some of the unique features of the book that addressed a wide gamut of topics that can be customised to the needs of health professionals in general.
According to a press note from SBV, the salient features of the book are inclusion of mandatory case scenario, in each chapter, comprehensive exercise and take-home message for the avid readers. One of the highlights of the book is the cartoon in the form of Comini who appears in all the 25 chapters — a fictitious medico who faces communication challenges in her medical career eventually turns out to be an adept professional who encounters many a communication challenge in her medical career.
The book contains 25 chapters written by 32 renowned authors from India and abroad.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Parija highlighted the role of mentoring in developing medical communication skills. The concluding remarks were made by Dr. Adkoli. Naren Aggarwal, Editorial Director, Asia division, Springer Nature also participated.