Abstract
Background: Communication skills (CS) learning is a core skill in medical and dental education. The comparison of attitudes towards CS between dental and medical students based on the taught curriculum (problem-based learning vs. traditional teaching) in Saudi Arabia awaits investigation. Aims: (1) To assess the attitudes of both undergraduate dental and medical students towards communication skills (CS) learning and (2) to compare the attitudes towards CS between Medical and Dental students in relation to sociodemographic and education-related characteristics. Methods and Materials: A cross-sectional study, using an online survey, invited 260 conveniently sampled Taibah university medical and dental undergraduate students. The survey collected data on sociodemographic characteristics, education-related factors, and CS using Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) that assess positive and negative attitudes (PAS, NAS). Data analysis included descriptive statistics and the Mann–Whitney U test. Results: Of the distributed questionnaire 91% responded (145 dental and 91 medical students). There were, overall, non-significant scores’ differences between medical and dental students on PAS (Medicine Median 51 vs. Dentistry Median 50, p = 0.059) and NAS (Medicine Median 32 vs. Dentistry Median 32, p = 0.596). Older medical students, those at clinical levels and those who reported they need to improve their communication skills and student whose parents were not doctors, tended to score statistically significantly (p = 0.032, 0.017, 0.034, and 0.004, respectively) on PAS compared with dental students; on the other hand, medical students with doctor parents scored significantly high in NAS compared to dental students (p = 0.015). Conclusion: Demographic and education-related characteristics underpinned medical student positive attitude towards CS compared to dental students. Although medical and dental students showed no differences in self-rating their attitudes towards (CS). Different factors influence medical and dental students’ attitudes towards CS learning.
Highlights
Communication by health care professionals is a key process in a patient–clinician relationship [1]
Positive (PAS) and negative (NAS) attitudes of medical and dental students towards communication skills (CS) learning were generally similar, both are influenced by different factors; medical students’ (PAS) positive attitude scale towards communication skills learning were related to older age, clinical level training students, low self-rated students’ views on communication skills, and non-medical family background
The current study showed that medical students who self-rated themselves as ‘Poor’ in their communication skills scored significantly high in PAS, while scoring was significantly high in NAS for students who self-rated themselves as ‘Very Good’ and ‘Excellent’
Summary
Communication by health care professionals is a key process in a patient–clinician relationship [1]. Communication skills (CS) learning is an integral component of medical and dental education, these core skills positively contribute to various aspects of the healthcare process, including conducting a meticulous examination, reaching a correct diagnosis, formulating a comprehensive plan, and providing adequate treatment [2,3]. Recent initiatives from authoritative medical educational bodies, licensing examination formats, and accreditation procedures are probing these essential core skills. Medical educational authorities recommend that medical and dental graduates should have certain levels of mastery of CS for interactions with patients, colleagues, and team.
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