Professional Development Training Session to be held for Family Medicine Center team

On Monday, Sept. 30, the Augusta University Simulation Center, the AU Center for Patients and Families and the Medical College of Georgia’s Office for Faculty Development will work together in a special session to provide professional development training for the full Family Medicine Center team at AU Health. This session will better help staffers to provide patient-centered care.

Dr. Joseph Hobbs’ (chair of the department of Family Medicine) 70-person team will take part in the training.

The Family Medicine Center (FMC) will be closed for half a day due to this training, which will go from 1:15 p.m. until 4:30 p.m.

“A dozen standardized patients have been trained for the event,” said Dr. Ralph Gillies of the Department of Family Medicine. “Members of the team will be practicing the skills to assist patients in fully informing providers of their health concerns for a visit. A new form will be piloted in the FMC in October to prompt patients to list their concerns and providers to expand or prioritize as needed. The goal is to more fully engage and support patients in their health and to assist the providers in doing so in an effective manner.“

The team will be learning about and practicing “collaborative agenda setting,” which has been demonstrated to promote communication between patient and professional team as well as to enhance patient engagement in their health care.