Tell Me More®: A medical student focused humanistic communication model to enhance student professional identity formation through meaningful patient encounters

Abstract

Introduction: The Tell Me More (TMM)® program provides a template for guided interviews to help providers procure an expansive social history from patients and connect with them as people beyond their illness. (TMM)® may provide a dual benefit: it improves the patient's experience with their healthcare team and the medical students' experience in developing their identity as a physician. Our aim was to characterize the impact of the patient-student conversations in TMM® on the participating medical students through analysis of their written reflections throughout the program.

Methods: Students conducted interviews with hospitalized patients using the TMM® template, Through narrative medicine and individualized posters, patients were able to highlight their unique qualities.

Results: Qualitative analyses of 63 journal reflections from 14 students, across 7 hospital settings, identified 6 themes. These included connection, humanism, discovery, impact, privilege, and perspective.

Conclusion: Reflective practice as a learning pedagogy created an opportunity to enhance the medical students' awareness of empathy and compassion during the TMM® program. Documentation of reflections assured students would process the encounter as a profound learning experience and develop their professional identity formation as a student preparing to become a physician.

Practical implications: TMM® provides an opportunity for medical students to practice and apply their interpersonal and communication skills through authentic patient encounters.

Keywords: Communication in healthcare; Compassionate care; Humanism; Patient-clinician relationship; Professional identity.