Pairing Programme – Seniors List

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Senior’s Name: Eirik Ofstad
Availability: 1/3
Attending ICCH 2024: In person

Pairing - Junior

Title: Chief consultant/assoc. professor
Institution: Uit The Arctic University
Discipline: Medicine
Years of experience: 15

Teacher/Training

Learners I work with:

  • Undergraduate
  • Postgraduate
  • Continuous Professional Development

Interests/expertise:

  • Curriculum design / development
  • Experiential teaching methods (eg role play)
  • Educational research
  • Simulated patients
  • Train the trainers (faculty development)
  • Workplace based teaching

Years I have worked in communication skills learning: 15

Research

Areas of work:

  • Medical education
  • Patient–provider relationship

Research methods:

  • Qualitative methods
  • RCT
  • Systematic literature review
  • Video analysis

Keywords describing expertise and interest:

  1. Decision-making
  2. Medical uncertainty

Field of expertise, major interests, and consultation topics:

Patient-physician communication – I have experience in qualitative analyses of dialog, from more open approaches to coding of predetermined subjects. Special interest in clinical decision-making, medical uncertainty and shared-decision making. Also interested in efficiency of communication, agenda-setting, use of empathy and structure (or lack of it and what it leads to).

Biography/CV:

45 years, married, wife works as GP, 2 kids – 15 and 12 years old. Worked as physician since 2007. Now specialist in general internal medicine and emergency medicine. Works as chief consultant (50%) in the Emergency Department of Nordland Hospital, Bodø, Norway (above the arctic circle). Started PhD 50% in 2010. Analysed how clinical decisions were communicated in 380 patient-physician encounters in hospital. Postdoc 50% 2016-22. Other research projects: mentoring medical students, medical uncertainty and how physicians deal with it, shared decision-making in hospital encounters, student tracking (what do they become and where do they settle). 20% position as associate professor at UiT the Arctic University of Norway, where I teach communication skills, professional development, point of care ultra sound, emergency medicine and more. Co-founder and co-owner of a brewery in Bodø, which also takes up some of my time.