Although previous studies have reported the effectiveness of communication training programmes, specific communication training centred around uncertainty and hope in oncology has not yet been studied. This project describes a controlled randomized study evaluating the effectiveness of communication training designed for doctors practising in oncology aiming to improve their capacity to communicate on uncertainty and hope in consultations or discussions with cancer patients.

The participants will be randomly assigned to groups of three participants in two tiers. The first tier (experimental group) will immediately receive the training. The second tier (control group) will receive the training at a later stage. The training focuses on the participants’ practices and includes theoretical information, role play and modelling. The effectiveness of the training is evaluated in the context of simulation of a medical consultation, involving an actress. For the experimental tier, the first evaluation will take place before the first training session and the second after the last training session. For the control tier, the first and second evaluation will be 4 months apart. The simulation will be analysed at communicational (audio and video recordings), physiological (heart rate) and psychological (questionnaires) levels. The effectiveness will be analysed using a generalized estimating equation model (GEE). A strength analysis has indicated that a sample size of 72 doctors (36 experimental participants and 36 control) would be sufficient to identify the effects of the training.

The study will help with the development of effective training programmes to improve doctors’ capacity to communicate on uncertainty and hope in consultations with cancer patients.