An Introduction of Medical Support Coaching —For Use in Medical Communication—

Abstract

  Coaching is a communication technique for supporting a person in achieving specific objectives by amplifying the individual's own knowledge and thought process through the development of critical thinking skills which lead to new ideas, behaviors and proactive actions. Although coaching prevails in business fields in Japan, Europe and the USA, it is relatively unknown in the medical field. Medical support coaching is designed especially for use in medical communication. Medical support coaching is rearranged into 27 different skills from the conventional coaching method, and organized into systematic medical approach for use in communication between doctor and patient, among medical staffmembers and in teaching medical students. In this article, three basic core skills — 'listening', 'questioning' and 'speaking' — are explained and their practical uses for instant implementation are described.