The H-PASS project is dedicated to equipping the European healthcare workforce with essential transversal and digital skills. In Romania, the pilot training empowered pharmacists working in diverse settings—from community pharmacies to clinical hospitals—to elevate their professional practice through enhanced communication and emotional intelligence.

Two participants share their experience, highlighting how H-PASS provided crucial skills not typically covered in traditional medical education.

Elevating Patient-Centered Care: Mitigating Unconscious Bias

Neagu Oana Mihaela, a Community Pharmacist at Ducfarm Pharmacy in Oradea, joined the training to expand her knowledge and better contribute to public health, especially for vulnerable populations.

Oana found the segment on health literacy and improving communication with patients from underserved communities to be extremely useful, prompting her to reflect on how pharmacists can better bridge the knowledge gap.

Her biggest “aha moment” was realizing how unconscious bias can subtly affect the quality-of-care provided. The training equipped her with tools to recognize and mitigate these biases in her daily interactions.

“Since completing the training, I’ve become more attentive to how I interact with patients, especially those who may face social or economic barriers. I try to adapt my communication style to be more inclusive and empathetic, which has already improved patient satisfaction and trust”.

Oana highly recommends H-PASS to any professional who wants to promote equity in healthcare.

Transforming Conflict into Opportunity in Clinical Psychiatry

For Bozga Radu Cosmin, a Pharmacy Resident in Clinical Pharmacy at the Bihor County Emergency Clinical Hospital’s Psychiatry Department, the challenge lay in managing complex interactions in a high-pressure, multidisciplinary environment.

He was eager to strengthen his communication skills and gain structured tools for managing conflict dynamics. The modules on conflict resolution and communication strategies were particularly useful, providing practical techniques he could immediately integrate into his clinical practice.

The training fundamentally shifted his professional mindset:

“It helped me stay more composed and empathetic under pressure, and to see conflict not as a threat, but as an opportunity for growth and understanding”.

Radu’s key surprise was realizing the critical role of non-verbal cues. “Even small changes in body language or tone of voice can prevent conflict from escalating,” he notes, emphasizing their necessity for building trust, especially in the highly nuanced field of psychiatry. The H-PASS course strengthened his role within the medical team.

The experiences of Oana and Radu demonstrate the core value of the H-PASS training: addressing the vital need for communication and emotional intelligence alongside clinical knowledge. By providing practical, reflective tools, H-PASS is actively helping to create a more resilient, empathetic, and equitable healthcare workforce.