Soft Skills Hard Problems

Elements of Teaching Behavioral Skills to

Future Health Care Providers

Rhonda Wallace MPAS; PA-C

Julie Andersson MPAS; PA-C
Jeanie McHugo PhD, PA-C

University Of North Dakota

School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Grand Forks ND
 Objectives
• Identify critical behavioral skill sets recognizing their importance in Pa
education & transferability to effective patient care.

• Apply the PA professional competencies & the ARC-PA standards to

elements of teaching “soft skills: to PA students.

• Explore methods of incorporating “soft skills components into current

curricular structure.

• Discuss effective assessment techniques in relation to “soft skills” to

prepare students for future NCCPA maintenance requirements.

• Recognize the impact of social media outlets in relation to interpersonal

communication.

• Consider guideline for students to optimize patient outcomes by

continually improving interpersonal & communication skill competencies.
 What Are “Soft Skills”?
• Soft Skills refer to personality traits , social and
behavioral habits
• Ability to facilitate communication
• Complement the hard skills/knowledge
• Differs from context to context
• Is an individual perception
 Categories
• Personal Qualities
• Interpersonal Skills
• Additional Skills (technical) and Knowledge
Why Are the Soft Skills Important?
• Competitive Market
• Employers are requiring
• Reduces risk of litigation
• Fosters relationships with patients & families
• Bridges gap between provider knowledge and
patients
• Adequate communication is a prerequisite for
moderating discussions or conflict management
Important for Students
and all
Physician Assistants
According to Iyer (2005)

“There is a lot of argument in the industry as to

whether it is possible to enhance soft skills in a
few hours of training, especially when one
considers the fact that a person has lived with
those traits all his life.

To this the answer is harsh but real- a professional

who wants to do well in his/her career does not
have a choice.”
Where Can Soft Skills be Acquired?
• Formal training courses
• Self-training based books
• Frequent socialization with friends, colleagues and
members of society
• Faculty training and
• Integrate with teaching hard skills
• Preceptor modeling (may be inconsistent as
preceptors may not have these skills)
 How to Teach Soft Skills?

First:
• Raise awareness of importance
• Have students self-evaluate

Second:
• Apply the methods into the hard skills training

Third:
• Role model –preceptors and faculty
 ARC-PA Standards
• Institutional Responsibility
– B1.06 – services to students
• Institutional Resources
– B1.08 – human resource services
• Curriculum
– B1.05 – appropriate conduct
– B1.06 – consideration to diverse populations
– B1.07 – problem solving and decision making
– B1.08 – interprofessional patient centered teams
• Clinical Preparatory Instruction
– B2.04 – interpersonal and communication skills
– B2.08 – social and behavioral science instruction
– B2.09 – basic counseling and patient education skills
– B2.16 – principles and practice of medical ethics
• Supervised Clinical Practice
– B3.02 – supervised clinical practice experiences must enable students to meet competencies
• Evaluation
– C3.02 – document demonstration of professional behaviors
 Competencies
Soft skills are required throughout all six
competency areas:
• Medical Knowledge
• Interpersonal & Communication Skills
• Patient Care
• Professionalism
• Practice Based Learning & Improvement
• Systems Based Practice
Preceptor Faculty Students

Competencies
& ARC-PA
Standards

Improved Improved
Provider/Patient Interdisciplinary
Communication Communication
 In Summary
• We do not want to produce academically proficient
PA’s who are lacking in soft skills

• It is important that students acquire or develop

adequate interpersonal skills beyond academic or
technical knowledge

• Caution not to have soft skills disguise student

deficiency of clinical knowledge and performance.
Thank You for Attending and
Participating!
 References
• Caudron, S. The Hard Case for Soft Skills. Workforce. July 1999,
Vol. 78, No. 7, pp. 60-66.

• Klaus, P. The Hard Truth About Soft Skills. New York:

HarperCollins Publishers; 2007.

• Medical students’ perceptions of their development of “soft

skills” Part II: the development of “soft skills” through “guiding
and growing”. SA Family Practice 2006, Vol. 48, No. 8, pp15-15d.

• Ross, S, et al. Competency-based achievement system. Canadian

Family Physician. September 2011; 57: e323-e330.

• Schulz, B. The Importance of Soft Skills: Education beyond

academic knowledge. Journal of Language and Communication.
June 2008, pp. 146-154.