Effective Communication: Delivering Bad News

On December 8, the Resident and Associate Society of the American College of Surgeons (RAS-ACS) hosted a webinar presented by Tyler G. Hughes, MD, FACS.

No matter how knowledgeable and skillful the surgeon, knowing how to communicate effectively when delivering bad news to patients or family is central to a surgeon’s success. During this webinar we will discuss the why and how of giving bad news as well as discussing how to deal with one’s on emotional response of this part of our work as surgeons.

Learning Objectives

• Participants will be able to use the SPIKES technique for communication
• Participants will know the technique Best Case/ Worse Case story telling
• Participants will be able to recognize the problem of using statistics in giving bad news
• Participants will be able to recognize the personal impact of bad news upon the surgeons

More about Tyler Hughes

Tyler Hughes is a board-certified general surgeon and Fellow of the American College of Surgeons practicing in McPherson, KS and a Clinical Professor of Surgery for Kansas University School of Medicine at Salina and Director of Medical Education at that institution. Dr. Hughes was the founding Chair of the Advisory Council for Rural Surgery and a former Director of the American Board of Surgery. He is the current Secretary of the American College of Surgeons and Editor of the ACS Communities.

This webinar is sponsored by the Resident and Associate Society and the Practice Protection Committee of the American College of Surgeons.