RADPED: an approach to teaching communication skills to radiology residents

Background: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education mandates that radiology residency programs teach communication skills to residents. Objective: The purpose of this paper is to present a mnemonic, RADPED, that can be used to enhance communication in the radiology setting. It reminds the resident of the salient points to address during an imaging encounter with pediatric patients and their families for the purpose of enhancing communication. Materials and methods: Recent history and research in medical communication are reviewed. Various communication guides used by primary care physicians, such as SEGUE, and the Kalamazoo consensus statement are discussed. This methodology was adapted into a format that could be used to teach communication skills to radiology residents in the context of an imaging encounter. Results: RADPED reminds the resident to establish rapport with the patient, ask questions as to why the patient and family are presenting for the study, discuss the exam, perform the procedure, use exam distractions, and discuss the results with the referring physician and family when appropriate. This guide is available with movie clips as part of an on-line pediatric radiology curriculum, http://www.pediatricradiology.clevelandclinic.org. Summary: This simple memory aid promotes the key points necessary to optimize the radiology resident’s encounter with pediatric patients and their families.