Medical Psychology

Objectives

- To understand the relevance of the biopsychosocial model for health/disease
- To understand the importance of health/disease beliefs and expectations for the lay models of illness
- To know the factors that influence the behavior of illness and seeking help and their relevance in health / disease
- To understand the importance of behavioral health/disease
- To understand the concepts of stress and coping, the physiological factors involved in the stress reaction and the mechanisms of the stress-disease link
- To understand emotional reactions to illness
- To interview according to the principles of the biopsychosocial model
- To apply, in the interview, verbal and non-verbal communication skills

- To practice specific communication skills to different stages of the life cycle
- To deal with difficult situations of communication.
- To practice skills needed to communicate bad news
- To use communication as a tool for health promotion and behavioral change.

Program

1. Introduction to Medical Psychology.
2. Health Psychology and Biopsychosocial Model in Medicine
3. Patient centered Medicine
4. Illness behavior
5. Help seeking behavior
6. Stress, coping and illness
7. Personality, health and disease
8. Psychology of the life cycle
9. Intelligence, empathy and communication
10. Emotion, emotion regulation and response to disease
11. Communication and chronic disease
12. Unexplained medical symptoms
13. Communication in difficult contexts
14. Communication and adherence
15. Motivation and behavior modification models
16. Positive psychology and medicine

Teaching Methodologies

Theoretical classes: Presentation
Pratical classes: Demostration, Modeling, Simulations, Role-playing, Discussion, Debate, Case studies, Field
Trips to relevant clinical settings (E.R; admission wards)

Assessment:
Exam:60%
Midterm exam:20%
Other:20% (practical assessment)

Bibliography

Albery, I. & Munafò. M. (2008). Key Concepts in Health Psychology. SAGE Publications, London.
Ayers, S., Visser, R. (2010). Psychology for Medicine. Sage Publications.
Coulehan, J.L., Block, M.R. (2006). The medical interview. Mastering Skills for Clinical Practice. 5th Ed. F.A.
Davis Company, Philadelphia.
Gleitman, H., Gross, J., Reisberg, D. (2010). Psychology. 8th ed. W.W. Norton & Company, London.
Kurtz, S., Silverman, J., Draper, J. (2009). Teaching and Learning Communication Skills in Medicine. 2nd Ed.,
Radcliffe Publishing, Oxford, San Francisco.
MacDonald, E. (2004). Difficult conversations in medicine. Oxford University Press.