modern medicine provides doctors today with enough study material and medical literature to stay abreast of procedures and developments in the medical field however busy schedules make it difficult for doctors to sift through the necessary knowledgebase and apply the knowledge practically the world today recognises that patients cannot be treated as learning grounds for invasive procedures hence skill simulation training becomes a necessity also to ensure service excellence and meet patient expectations medical professionals need to undergo a structured training in soft skills in response to these needs the apollo hospitals group has developed a sixmonth apollo medical development programme for its doctors the programme covers knowledge based training covering medico legal issues basic and advanced life support infection control pain management etc computer training and an online simulation training covering various medical procedures besides these there is a soft skills training component which focuses on effective communication in crisis anger management swot analysis handling patients and family with better listening interpersonal and communication skills how to deliver bad news proper handovers contributing on ward rounds and a wide variety of other situations where improved communication clarity may lead to improved results and outcomes doctors who opt for the programme will be given credits on completion of each module although introduced as a pilot programme the management of the hospital hopes that it will become popular and will be increasingly opted for by doctors both experienced as well as those at the beginning of their careers according to the management of apollo hospitals the skill augmentation will also be a fillip for career development of doctors