Military Soft Skills Applicable to the ICU

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To describe how soft skills acquired during military service can be applied to the practice of critical care medicine. DATA SOURCES: A systematic search was performed in PubMed. STUDY SELECTION: We selected all studies that addressed soft skills in medicine. DATA EXTRACTION: Information present in published articles was analyzed by the authors and incorporated in the article if relevant to the practice of critical care medicine. DATA SYNTHESIS: Integrative review of 15 articles combined with the authors' clinical experience practicing military medicine in country and overseas while also practicing academic intensive care medicine. CONCLUSIONS: Soft skills used in the military have potential applications to modern intensive care medicine. Teaching soft skills in parallel with the technical aspects of intensive care medicine should be an integral part of critical care fellowships.