Jo Murphy has been a leading communication skills specialist for medical professionals for over 15 years, having helped train over 1,000 NHS doctors and medical trainers in interpersonal skills to help support vital communication with colleagues and patients, ensuring they can manage and react correctly to any difficult medical scenario.

Having worked so closely with the NHS, she is aware of the huge skill gap across the organisation as thousands of UK and International NHS doctors are not receiving enough training in Interpersonal Skills, which can have huge negative repercussions on colleagues and patients. The range of skills required and expected from doctors is certainly multi-faceted and often training in the power to communicate is forgotten or certainly not focused on enough.

To help with the huge skill gap Jo has moved her course online, Doctors Interpersonal Skills 360, to enable more doctors both in the UK and internationally to benefit from her vast experience through 12 easy-to-follow modules.

She has outlined below some key communication tips that help patients feel at ease when speaking to doctors.

Top Communication Tips to help put patients at Ease -
You can put off a patient just by the way you’re sitting – Slouching or sitting tucked back in your chair gives mixed messages. It is important for doctors to look physically alert when speaking to a patient. Jo takes a deep dive into Closed and Open body language on the course and assesses how it affects your professional competence.

Think about your facial expression – this is crucial, especially when explaining tough medical terminology. Doctors need to ensure their facial muscles work in ways that demonstrate total engagement with patients and their concerns. Jo suggests practising asking questions in a mirror to see how these would come across to a patient.

Too much or too little eye contact – Maintaining eye contact is key when speaking to a patient but averting our eyes briefly or using ‘eye breaks’ are important to make a patient feel comfortable and ensure you aren’t overtly staring. The eyes play a vital role in conveying empathy - critical when breaking bad news.

Gesture, correctly used, is a superpower - Using a two-handed gestural repertoire can help rewire us to our neural circuitry, enlivening both our facial and vocal responses which can revolutionise a full range of doctor-patient interactions.

As a medical professional, your voice matters - This is generally true for all professionals but, for the sake of patients, doctors need to make themselves understood – every single interaction at a surgery or hospital will be greatly enhanced by how a doctor comes across vocally. Amongst other techniques used on the course, Jo suggests using slow-to-faster tongue twisters to maximise vocal clarity with many available on YouTube.

Handling the micro ‘vocal-centric’ world of telephone consultation and the truncated world of online communication – Doctors need to think about how they come across to patients in both worlds. Jo teaches that active body language, vocal tone and gesture still matter – even on the phone.

Learn how to manage your nerves - Start with deep breathing and slowing your vocal pace to give patients ‘processing pauses’ - time to digest what is being said to them. Doctors are busy and often talk too fast, however, when the related interpersonal skills are fully rehearsed, doctors make real headway in professional competence, in turn helping their patients feel more at ease.

Jo Murphy’s communication course has already gained accreditation by the Royal College of General Practitioners in the UK and is available now for any medical professional who wants to advance their interpersonal skills with patients and colleagues.

The career-advancing course in communication skills for International & UK medical trainees helps establish a professional persona through detailed practical work on facial expression, physicality, voice and gesture.

Course Founder, Jo Murphy commented, “Trainee doctors working to achieve lasting professional competence need to unite their private persona with their professional one towards a more pro-active interpersonal skills repertoire.

This involves dynamic work on facial expression, vocal and gestural responses, and overall physicality. Being aware of how you come across both physically and vocally is vital to help put patients at ease and make them leave feeling reassured and positive about the interaction. ”

To find out more about the course visit - https://www.doctorsinterpersonal.com/