This quality improvement project examined whether OHSU’s revised longitudinal curriculum, which emphasizes plain-language communication, reduced medical students’ use of unexplained jargon during Family Medicine OSCE encounters compared with the prior curriculum. In a retrospective analysis of de-identified OSCE transcripts, the primary outcome of unexplained jargon rate did not differ significantly between cohorts, although total jargon use was significantly lower in the post-intervention group. These findings suggest that the curriculum may reduce overall jargon use, though deliberate reinforcement may be needed to produce other improvements in the specific communication behaviors most important for patient understanding.
