Education

Educating the primary care clinician of today and tomorrow

Primary care physicians (PCPs) typically practice individually or in small groups. This can sometimes limit the opportunity for physicians and their staff to step back, examine their own practice, learn about best practices and stay at the forefront of patient care.

The Stoeckle Center's educational programs are all designed to improve the doctor-patient relationship by focusing on communication and relationship building skills and by introducing novel and interactive methods for incorporating the patient and family point-of-view. The Center's faculty will include patients who participate both in programs that train and educate future primary care clinicians, as well as those currently in practice. Faculty patients and families help design role-playing scenarios and take part in panel discussions; plan and develop educational programs; provide direct feedback to medical students and physicians through evaluations; and, help shape the Center's agenda for the future by identifying areas of primary care that are most problematic to patients and families.

The Stoeckle Center has played a lead role in bringing the MGH primary care community together and sharing vital best practice information through two ambitious initiatives - Monthly "Stoeckle Center Seminars" and "Stoeckle Center and Ambulatory Practice of the Future Present." seminars.

Stoeckle Center Seminars

Through the generous support of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Green, the Center develops and hosts monthly seminars that cover a broad range of issues relating to primary care. These seminars are designed to address current practice, explore emerging innovations and improvements within primary care, and educate providers about new methods and techniques to improve the quality of the patient experience through improved communication and decision-making. The seminar series includes topics such as how to access credible medical information to share with patients, strategies for managing difficult patient-clinician interactions, and the medical-legal implications of involving patients in important medical decisions, rather than turning decision-making over to the doctor alone.

While the program is designed for internal medicine and pediatric primary care providers, the seminars are open to anyone interested in attending, including patients and families. To extend the program's reach and increase participation, each session is videoconferenced throughout the MGH primary care and community health center practices, and on occasion to outside organizations. The seminars are also videotaped for future use. The seminars are approved for CME and Risk Management credits, as appropriate.

Stoeckle Center and Ambulatory Practice of the Future Present.

The Stoeckle Center remains focused on identifying and broadly sharing innovative best practices and emerging technologies that support the doctor-patient relationship. The Center, with the Ambulatory Practice of the Future, hosts a series of biweekly presentations featuring nationally recognized speakers from MGH, other medical centers and health plans, as well as non-health care industries, from throughout the country. These presentations are videoconferenced throughout the MGH and Partners HealthCare System to maximize their impact and reach. Topics have ranged from physicians using new technologies and common devices, such as cell phones and watches, to monitor people with chronic conditions at home.to the Southwest Airlines approach to creating and maintaining an environment of excellent customer service and client satisfaction.

Other Educational Activities

The Stoeckle Center also has created a lecture and tutorial session in the "Doctor Patient III" course for third year Harvard Medical School students to introduce concepts for enhanced decision-making, including how to engage patients in these discussions and using the best clinical evidence available. Dr. Bill Kormos, Director of Education for the Center, developed a collection of targeted readings and patient cases for the tutorial session. Likewise, Dr. Al Mulley, Chief of the MGH General Medicine Division and a founder of the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making, presented an overview of the theoretical and practical underpinnings of shared decision-making, followed by discussion of the case studies by students in smaller group sessions.

Stoeckle Center education programs are also incorporated into existing conferences at MGH, including Grand Rounds for the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics.