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Most examiners give feedback after an OSCE because the format asks them to. Few receive any training on how to do it well. The result is feedback that rarely lands. Not because examiners are unskilled, but because the conditions are almost optimally designed for poor retention. What follows is a set of techniques that work […]

Empathic Accuracy vs Empathy in Healthcare Training Empathic accuracy and empathy are related, but they are not the same clinical skill. Empathy describes how a clinician connects with a patient’s experience. Empathic accuracy asks a sharper question: did the clinician correctly understand what the patient was thinking or feeling? This distinction matters in healthcare training

What is a remote OSCE and how does it differ from traditional OSCEs Objective Structured Clinical Examinations, known as OSCEs, assess clinical competence by observing how candidates perform across multiple structured stations. Many institutions now adopt remote OSCEs to respond to changing educational needs. Each station targets a specific task such as history taking, communication,

Micro Expressions in Healthcare Training: Context First Micro expressions are very brief facial movements that may appear when someone experiences or suppresses an emotion. In healthcare training, they can help students notice moments where a patient may feel uncertainty, discomfort, fear, anger, or sadness. However, micro expressions should not be treated as proof of what

How to Identify Emotions in Clinical Skills Training Learning how to identify emotions is a clinical communication skill. Patients do not always say “I am scared,” “I feel ashamed,” or “I do not understand.” Instead, emotions often appear through verbal hints, pauses, tone, facial expression, posture, repeated questions, or silence. For students and trainees, the

Introduction Unsurprisingly, to everyone working in the industry, healthcare professionals commonly face emotionally charged situations that demand immediate action. Unfortunately, these often come without the luxury of processing their own emotional responses. This is where emotional intelligence (EI) becomes indispensable. EI is the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings, discriminate among them, and

Communication skills in healthcare are the verbal, nonverbal, and written abilities that allow clinicians to exchange information clearly, understand patient needs, and support shared decision-making. They encompass active listening, empathy, nonverbal awareness, and the ability to adapt communication style across clinical contexts and patient populations. Despite being one of the most studied areas in medical

Deescalating Situations in Healthcare: Why It Matters in Clinical Practice Deescalating situations is not a soft skill. It is a core clinical competence. In healthcare, emotional tension can quickly disrupt judgment, teamwork, and patient safety. Therefore, learning to manage escalation is part of learning to practice safely. Effective communication sits at the center of clinical

Emotional Cues in Healthcare: Examples and Training Emotional cues in healthcare are verbal, nonverbal, or contextual signals that suggest a patient may be feeling fear, uncertainty, sadness, anger, shame, or hesitation. They may appear as direct statements, small hints, silence, changes in tone, facial tension, posture, or repeated questions. For students and trainees, emotional cues

This Blog is a practical Guide for CPD (Continuous Professional Development in the field of medicine), based on the WFME-Standards-for-Continuing-Professional-Development, which is very helpful if you want to become an expert on the topic, but also quite dense to read through.  If you’re a doctor, chances are you’ve heard the phrase continuous professional development more times than you