RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Development of a measure of clinicians’ self-efficacy for medical communication (SEMC) JF BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care JO BMJ Support Palliat Care FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group SP bmjspcare-2022-003593 DO 10.1136/bmjspcare-2022-003593 A1 David B. Feldman A1 Mark A. O'Rourke A1 Benjamin W. Corn A1 Matthew F. Hudson A1 Naimik Patel A1 Rajiv Agarwal A1 Valerie L. Fraser A1 Heidi Deininger A1 Lauren A. Fowler A1 Marie A. Bakitas A1 Robert A. Krouse A1 Ishwaria M. Subbiah YR 2022 UL http://spcare.bmj.com/content/early/2022/05/08/bmjspcare-2022-003593.abstract AB Objectives Studies of clinician–patient communication have used varied, ad hoc measures for communication efficacy. We developed and validated the Self-Efficacy for Medical Communication (SEMC) scale as a standard, quantitative measure of clinician-reported skills in communicating difficult news.Methods Using evidence-based scale development guidelines, we created two 16-item forms of the SEMC, one assessing communication with patients and one assessing communication with families. Clinicians providing oncological care in four organisations were invited to participate and provided consent. Participant demographics, responses to the SEMC items and responses to convergent and discriminant measures (those expected to relate strongly and weakly to the SEMC) were collected online. We performed analyses to determine the convergent and discriminant validity of the SEMC as well as its reliability and factor structure.Results Overall, 221 oncology clinicians (including physicians, residents, fellows, medical students, nurses, nurse practitioners and physician assistants) participated. The patient and family forms both demonstrated high internal consistency reliability (alpha=0.94 and 0.96, respectively) and were strongly correlated with one another (r=0.95, p<0.001). Exploratory factor analysis demonstrated that the SEMC measures a unitary construct (eigenvalue=9.0), and its higher mean correlation with convergent (r=0.46) than discriminant (r=0.22) measures further supported its validity.Conclusions Our findings support the SEMC’s validity and reliability as a measure of clinician-rated communication skills regarding conducting difficult conversations with patients and families. It provides a useful standard tool for future research in oncology provider–patient serious illness communication.