Latifa Patel, University of Liverpool

I award this book a BUYER RATING OF 2/5. I have mixed opinions on this book. On the one hand I like it for communication is an art… and even though the confidence may come naturally… like any art the technique must be taught. In a relatively short and slim book a great deal of skill is taught. Lloyd addresses all situations of patient contact from the simple ones to the more unusual and more emotional ones. In that sense it can not falter. What’s more there are diagrams and even snippets of clinical material related to the scenarios. The margins are also massive for those who like to make notes. On the downside there are massive amounts of text in the book and there is no colour. I personally did not buy this book because I was given ample opportunities to practice my communication skills with real patients. However, for anyone who hasn’t had the opportunity or feels that they are not up to scratch then this book is a must have. Enjoy, Latifa (“,)

Posted 9th Mar 2009

Adam Moreton, University of Liverpool

I first used this book during my first year of medical school in the lead up to exams. It tackles topics such as 'breaking bad news' and how to steer 'challenging consultations'. This book helped me considerably for the communication skills aspects of the OSCE and provides quite a few useful phrases for getting that talkative patient back on track (after all you only have about 5 minutes in the exam). A very useful book with a few 'gems' of chapters. The comms. skills OSCE might feel like slightly less of a battle having read this.

Posted 26th Jan 2009

Vicki Leyland, University of Keele

Communication Skills for Medicine is an excellent book which covers a wide range of difficult, but important, communication concepts in an easy to understand way. It explains how to break bad news, take a sexual history, communicate with patients from different cultural backgrounds and communicate with children. In addition to this a very useful section on mistakes, complaints and litigation is included, should something go wrong! Each chapter contains scenarios in the form of scripts which make the topics believable and easier to remember. The book is written by a clinician and a psychologist, giving a well rounded view to both the practical and theoretical sides of communication. Despite the lack of colour and pictures, I felt this book was very easy to read, and an extremely useful resource for the clinical years of a degree in medicine.

Posted 1st Jul 2008