Communication training in otorhinolaryngology education : Comparison of an online and aclassroom-based training course

Abstract

Communication skills are among the most important key qualifications of the medical profession. To what extent these can also be acquired online in medical education in otolaryngology is investigated in this study. Avoluntary online training for the teaching of communication skills was compared with acorresponding face-to-face format. The question of the extent to which acceptance of the two formats and students' self-assessment of their communicative skills differed was investigated. In the online training, students were prepared for the topic asynchronously via avideo. Thereafter, they were able to conduct consultations with simulation patients online and synchronously. The face-to-face training was comparable in structure and duration and took place in an earlier semester. The acceptance of both seminars was assessed by aquestionnaire with 19items on afive-point Likert scale. Self-assessment of communication skills was measured by a10-cm visual analog scale pre/post with 16items. Both formats achieved high acceptance with an average score (M) of 2.08 (standard deviation, SD = 0.54) for the online format and M = 1.97 (SD = 0.48) for the face-to-face event. Students' self-assessments of communication skills showed atwofold increase in the online group (M = 1.54, SD = 0.94) compared to the face-to-face group (M = 0.75, SD = 0.87). This study shows that teaching communication skills in the online format was well accepted and resulted in significant changes in students' self-assessment of communication skills.