ABSTRACT
This essay addresses the importance of clinical communication skills (CCC) in the health sciences. These skills can be taught, learned and assessed, and several studies have shown the advantages of specific training in this area, enhancing the relationship that healthcare professionals establish with patients, informal careers and health teams, with improved results in health indicators and more humanized care. Faced with difficulties in integrating specific communication programs in the curricula, as well as a deficit in the assessment process and structured feedback, an investment in teacher training and curriculum development is crucial. Aware of the lack of systematic studies that point to a consensus on the skills and CCC teaching-learning objectives, the Core Curriculum sub-group of the Teaching Committee (tEACH) of the European Association of Communication in Health (EACH) developed and achieved a consensus for a core curriculum in the different areas of healthcare. In this context, the Health Professions Core Curriculum Communication – HPCCC emerged, which can serve as a flexible framework in accordance with the specific needs and contribute to greater systematization of CCC initiatives in healthcare spoken in Portuguese.
Clinical Communication Skills; Curriculum; Health Sciences; Medical Education