Correlations between Medical Students’ Self Assessment of Communication Skills and Patient-Physician Interaction Assessed by Standardized Patients in Clinical Performance Examination

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the correlations between medical students’ communication skills and patient-physician interaction of clinical performance examination. A total of 36 fourth-year medical students were enrolled in this study and were surveyed concerning communication skills during clinical performance examination. The survey included 20 items in 4major areas: pre-interview (greeting, verifying patient’s name, introducing self, expressing interest, and confirming major symptoms), data collection (asking open-ended questions, reflecting, facilitation, clarifying information, and mid-point summarizing), data provision and patient education (finding out what the patient is thinking, responding to the patient’s emotions, explaining in a manner easy to understand, checking for the patient’s comprehension, taking additional questions), and non-verbal communication (professional appearance, active and respectful listening, appropriate eye contact, appropriate nodding, appropriate silence). 20 items of communication skills were reclassified to 5 patient-physician interaction items, and compared with patient-physician interaction scores of clinical performance examination. There were no correlations between communication skills and patient-physician interaction scores in two examination items (breast pain and acute abdominal pain). This study demonstrated that medical education of communication skills could not be transferred to improvement of patient-physician interaction in clinical skills assessment.