The Institute of Medical Psychology, Psycho-Oncology and Psychosomatics develops specialised training programmes for physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals, focused on the psychological and communicative aspects of medical practice.
Contemporary medicine requires not only high clinical competence but also the ability to recognise the psychological needs of the patient, to conduct difficult conversations, and to build effective therapeutic interaction with the patient and their relatives.
The training programmes cover topics such as communicating a serious diagnosis and unfavourable prognosis, psychological reactions to severe and chronic illness, psycho-oncology and psychosomatics, working with anxious and emotionally distressed patients, communication with relatives, loss and grief, palliative care, medical ethics and shared decision-making.
We pay special attention to the doctor–patient relationship, the recognition of psychological distress, and the situations in which referral to a psychologist, psychiatrist or other specialist is necessary.
An important part of the programmes is also devoted to the medical professionals themselves – the emotional burden of clinical work, professional burnout, encountering suffering and death, difficult clinical situations, and caring for one's own mental health.
The training programmes are conducted in the form of lectures, practical seminars, work with clinical cases, communication trainings, Balint groups and specialised programmes for medical teams and healthcare institutions.
Our goal is for psychological knowledge to become a practical part of medical care, because good communication, understanding the patient and caring for the medical professional are part of the quality of treatment.