Impact of Narrative Medicine (Workshop Reflexive Writing) (INAMERE)

Impact of an Educational Program 'Narrative Medicine (Workshop Reflexive Writing) ' Dedicated to Medical Students. A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the impact of an educational program of Narrative Medicine "workshop reflexive writing "dedicated to medical students on the satisfaction of standardized patients.

Design: Randomized Controlled Trial in 2 arms. Participants: Medical students (4th years) of the University Paris Descartes. Methods: Participants will be randomized in two groups. The allocation of participants will be done by a computerized randomization list, the sequence will be created by an independent statistician. Participants will be blinded of the study hypothesis. Allocation concealment will be provided because only the statistician will have access to the randomization list.

A program of Narrative Medicine in Class-led instruction "workshop reflexive writing "vs "workshop reading medical publication".

Outcome: The primary endpoint will be the satisfaction of standardized patient relative to the empathy of the medical students. The secondary endpoints will be the empathy of the medical students; recommendation of the student by the standardized patients to friends or relatives; students' satisfaction.

Potential interests: The investigators believe that the workshop "reflexive writing" can develop the thinking of the student with respect to his behavior with the patient, and so the relation between student and patient.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Empathy
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: reflective writing; Behavioral: reading medical publication workshops

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 200
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• France
  • Paris, France, 75004
    • Centre d'Epidemiologie Clinique, Assistance Publique, Hotel Dieu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• All students in the fourth year of medical school have chosen for their first 2 quarters to complete an internship in clinical hospital departments (i.e. where direct contact with patients)

Exclusion Criteria:

• All students refusing to participate in the study.
• All students repeaters.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Behavioral intervention; Students allocated to the experimental arm will follow 5 sessions in Class-led instruction of reflexive writing workshops. They will be divided into 12 sub-groups of 8 students. They will write their stories about their own experiences or the experiences of their family / patient.	Behavioral: reflective writing; Students allocated to the experimental arm will follow 5 sessions in Class-led instruction of reflexive writing workshops. They will be divided into 12 sub-groups of 8 students. They will write their stories about their own experiences or the experiences of their family / patient.
Active Comparator: behavoral intervention; Students allocated to the active comparator arm will follow 5 sessions in Class-led instruction of reading medical publication workshops. They will be divided into eight subgroups of 12 students. The first and fifth sessions will be presential, and 2nd 3rd and 4th sessions will be homework to do on internet.	Behavioral: reading medical publication workshops

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
satisfaction of standardized patient will be assessed through the questionnaire recommended by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM).	It consists of ten questions, denoted by EVGFP scale (excellent = 5, very good = 4, good = 3, fair = 2, poor = 1).	5 months after randomization (i.e. 1 month after the end of the intervention)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy	self-administered questionnaire consisting of 20 items scored by a Likert-type scale (strongly agree = 7, strongly disagree = 1): 10 items are rated positively, others 10 items are rated negatively. The total score ranges from 20 to 140.	5 months after randomization (i.e. 1 month after the end of the intervention)

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The Interpersonal Reactivity Index	self-administered questionnaire with 4 subscales (Perspective Taking, Empathic Concern, Fantasy, Personal Distress) each containing seven items (a total of 28 items). The items are scored by a Likert scale (0 = Does not describe me well to 4 = Describes me very well).	5 months after randomization (i.e. 1 month after the end of the intervention)
students' satisfaction	measure on a numeric scale from 0 (without interest) to 10 (very interesting)	4 months after randomization (i.e. 1 month after the end of the intervention)
recommendation of the student by the standardized patient, to friends or relatives	: measure on a numeric scale from 0 (not at all) to 10 (entirely)	5 months after randomization (i.e. 1 month after the end of the intervention)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Francois GOUPY, Professeur, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: December 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 21, 2013
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 22, 2013
• First Posted (Estimate): February 25, 2013

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): April 21, 2014
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 17, 2014
• Last Verified: February 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: RAV001