The clinic is my woodshed: a new paradigm for learning and refining communication skills
Author Department
Medicine
Document Type
Article, Peer-reviewed
Publication Date
12-2016
Abstract
Jazz cats use the term 'woodshedding' to denote a period of intense practice during which they aim to take their playing up a few notches. Developing expertise, whether we are speaking musically or talking about communicating with patients, requires a lifelong commitment to such practice. For physicians, the woodshed is not a practice room or an isolated space. No: clinical environments are the woodsheds; they are the only places in which one can hone communication skills. The idea of 'shedding' in the setting of routine practice challenges prevailing notions about communication skills training and has implications for how such skills should be learned, nurtured and assessed. In this essay, we use stories of woodshedding from jazz music history to discuss concepts related to deliberative practice, formal education and learning communities.
Recommended Citation
Haidet P, Picchioni M. The clinic is my woodshed: a new paradigm for learning and refining communication skills. Med Educ. 2016 Dec;50(12):1208-1210.
PMID
27873417