52 ACTA MEDICA ACADEMICA PERSONAL COPY 1 Department of Family Medicine School of Medicine, University of Split Split, Croatia 2 Department of Research in Biomedicine and Health, School of Medicine University of Split, Split, Croatia Corresponding author: Nataša Mrduljaš-Đujić Department of Family Medicine Split University School of Medicine Šoltanska 2 21000 Split Croatia md.natasa@gmail.com Tel.: + 385 21 631 292 Fax: + 385 21 631 292 Received: 19 December 2011 Accepted: 8 February 2012 Copyright © 2012 by Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. E-mail for permission to publish: amabih@anubih.ba Students’ letters to patients as a part of education in family medicine Nataša Mrduljaš-Đujić¹, Ivančica Pavličević¹, Ana Marušić², Matko Marušić² Family medicine fosters holistic approach to patient-centered practice. Current medical curriculum in Croatia does not have well-structured courses or tools to prepare medicals students for successful commu- nication with the patient and for building lasting and beneicial doc- tor-patient relationship. We explored the value of students’ practice in writing letters to patients about their illness as a way of building personal and compassionate relationship with patients. Sixth year stu- dents at the School of Medicine in Split wrote letters to the patients from consultations under the supervision of the supervisor in a fam- ily medicine practice. Structured teaching of communication with the patient brings family medicine back to what has actually always been its main part – communication and doctor-patient relationship. Our future aim is to develop students’ letters to patients as a new tool in the family medicine course examination. Moreover, we will investigate how they can be used in everyday practice of family medicine. Key words: Letter to the patient, Family practice, Communication, Doctor patient relationship. New models in family medicine education Acta Medica Academica 2012;41(1):52-58 DOI: 10.5644/ama2006-124.36 Introduction Word comes irst and then cure! Hippocrates At present, medical profession seems to be more concerned about form and technology than about individual interaction with a pa- tient as a human being: “To be intellectually free, sometimes we have to write the diagno- sis, medical history, state facts and igures, and then we have time for the patient. First, we must satisfy the system. Let’s do the pa- perwork, then we can be doctors” (1). On the other hand, family medicine fosters holistic, bio-psycho-social approach to patient-cen- tered practice. It seeks to identify the patient’s priorities and concerns, and includes patients