Curriculum standards

Ready to perform without supervision

Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision

The trainee will:

• use appropriate communication strategies and modalities for communication, such as face-to-face, email, phone calls, and digital health platforms
• elicit patients’ views, concerns, and preferences, promoting rapport
• provide information to patients in plain language, avoiding jargon, acronyms, and complex medical terms
• encourage questions and answer them thoroughly
• ask patients to share their thoughts or explain management plans in their own words, to verify understanding
• convey information considerately and sensitively to patients, and seek clarification if unsure of how best to proceed
• treat children and young people respectfully, and listen to their views
• recognise the role of family or carers and, when appropriate, encourage the young person to involve their family or carers in decisions about their care
• explain diagnoses, incidental findings, management, and long-term impacts to parents and carers
• utilise appropriate defusing and de-escalation strategies for angry patients / carers, prioritising safety for self and team members
• ensure appropriate documentation in medical records or other appropriate means of record keeping

Requires some supervision

Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity

The trainee may:

• select appropriate modes of communication
• engage patients in discussions, avoiding the use of jargon
• check patients’ understandings of information
• adapt communication styles in response to patients’ age, developmental level, and cognitive, physical, cultural, socioeconomic, and situational factors
• see adolescents and young adults by themselves during part of the consultation
• utilise professional interpreters and other communication assistance means during every clinical encounter with patients who cannot communicate confidently or verbally in English at a level required for health understanding, and document this in medical records
• collaborate with patient liaison officers as required
• provide timely updates to patients and care providers when there is a change in plan or new result
• demonstrate active listening skills
• communicate patients’ situations to colleagues, including senior clinicians

Ready to perform without supervision

Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision

The trainee will:

• discuss with patients their condition and available management options, including their potential benefits and harms
• apply the principles of informed consent, including the provision of information to patients in a way they can understand before asking for their consent
• consider capacity for decision making and consent, including children, young people or patients with cognitive disability
• recognise and take precautions where patients may be vulnerable, such as issues of child protection or self-harm
• participate in processes to manage patient complaints

Requires some supervision

Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity

The trainee may:

• inform patients of the risks associated with proposed management plans
• treat information about patients as confidential

Ready to perform without supervision

Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision

The trainee will:

• provide education to peers, junior colleagues, and students, using appropriate language tailored to their level of knowledge and current learning needs
• obtain informed consent or other valid authority before involving patients in teaching
• provide appropriate and ongoing education for patients and carers, including verbal, written, and digital information
• reflect on communication interactions that did not go as expected, and demonstrate openness to feedback, continuous learning, and improvement

Requires some supervision

Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity

The trainee may:

• respond appropriately to information sourced by patients, and to patients’ knowledge regarding their condition

Ready to perform without supervision

Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision

The trainee will:

• provide information to patients that is based on evidence-based clinical guidelines
• provide research information to patients that is based on guidelines issued by the National Health and Medical Research Council and/or Health Research Council of NZ
• apply the principles of informed consent by providing information to patients in a way they can understand before asking for their consent to participate in research
• understand when young people can consent for participation in research
• obtain informed consent or other valid authority before involving patients in research
• communicate any research findings to appropriate stakeholders, including patients’ communities

Requires some supervision

Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity

The trainee may:

• refer to evidence-based clinical guidelines
• demonstrate an understanding of the limitations of the evidence and the challenges of applying research in daily practice

Ready to perform without supervision

Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision

The trainee will:

• demonstrate effective and culturally safe communication with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Māori peoples
• effectively communicate with members of other cultural groups by meeting patients’ specific language, cultural, and communication needs
• provide plain language and culturally appropriate written materials to patients when possible

Requires some supervision

Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity

The trainee may:

• identify when to use interpreters
• allow enough time for communication across linguistic and cultural barriers
• when necessary, use qualified language interpreters or cultural interpreters to help meet patients’ communication needs

Ready to perform without supervision

Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision

The trainee will:

• encourage and support patients to be well informed about their health, and to use this information wisely when they make decisions
• encourage and support patients and, when relevant, their families or carers, in caring for themselves and managing their health
• demonstrate respectful, professional relationships with patients
• identify when it is appropriate to communicate with the patient versus their family or carer
• prioritise honesty, patient welfare, and community benefit above self-interest
• develop a high standard of personal conduct, consistent with professional and community expectations
• support patients’ rights to seek second opinions

Requires some supervision

Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity

The trainee may:

• respect the preferences of patients
• communicate appropriately, consistent with the context, and respect patients’ needs and preferences
• maximise patient autonomy, and support their decision making
• apply appropriate boundaries (e.g., avoid sexual, intimate, and/or financial relationships with patients)
• demonstrate a caring attitude towards patients
• respect patients, including protecting their rights to privacy and confidentiality
• behave equitably towards all, irrespective of gender, age, culture, social and economic status, sexual preferences, beliefs, contribution to society, illness related behaviours, or the illness itself
• use social media ethically and according to legal obligations to protect patients’ confidentiality and privacy

Ready to perform without supervision

Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision

The trainee will:

• role model excellent communication with other health professionals and students
• communicate effectively with team members involved in patients’ care, and with patients, families or carers, and other clinicians involved in patients’ care in the community
• discuss medical assessments, treatment plans, and investigations with patients and primary care teams, and work collaboratively with them
• discuss patients’ care needs with team members to align them with appropriate resources
• facilitate an environment in which all team members feel they can contribute and their opinion is valued
• formulate strategies to respectfully negotiate plans in the best interest of the patient at times when there are differences in opinions between health professionals

Requires some supervision

Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity

The trainee may:

• answer questions from team members
• summarise, clarify, and communicate responsibilities of health care team members
• keep health care team members focused on patient outcomes

Ready to perform without supervision

Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision

The trainee will:

• help patients navigate the healthcare system by working in collaboration with other services, such as community health centres and consumer organisations
• advocate for appropriate immunisations and vaccines while maintaining respect for the views and wishes of individual patients
• advocate for and support smoking and vaping cessation (in both young people and carers) through education and intervention where possible
• effectively and safely utilise appropriate and approved digital technologies and systems to facilitate improved communication

Requires some supervision

Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity

The trainee may:

• communicate with and involve other health professionals as appropriate