Correspondence Address:
P V Vijayaraghavan
Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research Institute (Deemed University), Chennai, Tamil Nadu
India

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Author :SC Parija, Balachandra V Adkoli, Eds.

Edition :1st

ISBN :978-981-15-3408-9

Pages :266

Publishers:Springer Nature Singapore

Price :Euros 62.39

Communication skill is an important competence in Health Professional Education and Practice and it is high time structured teaching-learning strategies which are evolved and introduced to achieve this competency and outcome.

It has been observed that health professionals and doctors are found lacking in communication, the reason being multifactorial. Communication is all about empathetic listening, connecting with patients, students and other stakeholders, and establishing bonds of trust.

This gap in communication competency among medical professionals has been realized, and the new Graduate Medical Education Regulations 2019 includes knowledge, skill, attitude, and communications as a separate entity in the development of Indian Medical Graduate. The title of the book “Effective Medical Communication – The A, B, C, D, E of it” is very apt and deals with all aspects of communication in its constituent 25 chapters. The format of each chapter follows innovative and attractive patterns, starting with a “cartoon on the theme,” needs assessment, briefing on the objectives, contextualization thro' problem scenario with a solving exercise for the reader, “describe” including the main content of the theme, conclusion, and evaluation exercise as a reflective practice. The content has been organized under 5 parts: Part-I “Begin with a Bang;” Part-II “Catch them Young;” Part-III “Hold them Strong,” Part-IV-“Can't go Wrong;” Part-V “Play Ping-pong” and intends to attract reader's interest.

The editors have taken pains to get a plethora of experts to contribute apart from writing their own chapters. The chapters have been fitted appropriately and have considered basic principles such as communication vocabulary; role and mentoring in communication skill development, giving and receiving feedback, verbal and nonverbal cues, doctor–patient communication, communication for informed consent in medical research, prescriptive communication, and also effective podium presentation skills are very relevant in the present-day context.

As an educational practitioner, how to teach and learn communication skills and more importantly how to assess this skill has been dealt with elaborately. Facing a large audience, how to communicate to public, media, and press are added features. At present, with overpowering social media presence, communication through social media and in the digital world needs special training and attention. Language could be a huge barrier for health professionals while interacting with patients and this has been dealt with adequately. Manuscript writing and scientific communication is a special art and this also has been covered. Communication skill is required at every level, and there are different types of approach to be adopted when one becomes a leader in Health Professional Education and also be able to do conflict management. Certain special issues and situations such as communication on cultural sensitivities and issues in Gulf and South Asian countries are also featured. Chapters on music therapy as a communication tool and salutogenesis are newer concepts well brought out.

In conclusion, it is an excellent effort and a new book designed to cater to the needs of a diverse group of readers and health professionals and would like to congratulate all the authors and editors for their efforts.