A Cross sectional study on Students’ Attitude towards Communication Pharmacology in Medical Education

Abstract

Abstract Background: Effective communication between doctor-patient is essential to provide high-quality health care. The introduction of communication skills is a promising step at an undergraduate level by National Medical Commission (NMC) that improve students’ attitude towards patient care. Objectives: The study objective was to assess the student’s attitude and their perception towards learning communication skills. Methods: A total of 122 students participated in the study who were pursuing second-year MBBS in a Medical college located in Telangana State. A Questionnaire related to attitude towards Communication Pharmacology (Communication Skills Attitude Scale), their interest in the topic of choice and reason for their interest in communication pharmacology was given. Using the Likert scale, scores were given ranging from 13 to 65 and the median values of responses were taken for positive and negative attitudes. Results: The study results showed that the median value of positive response for girls was 56 and for boys was 52 whereas for a negative response was 25 and 27 respectively. There was no significant (p>0.05) difference was observed in the tested groups. The majority of the students opted for empathy-related communication skills as their interest (30.33%) and opined that it will help to build future communication skills (31.33%). Conclusion: It was concluded that students have a more positive attitude towards communication pharmacology and girls have shown more interest in these types of skills.