Motivation to engage in communication skills training by oncology specialty.

Abstract

29 Background: The present study aimed to assess oncology fellows’ motivation to participate in communication skills training by specialty. Methods: Oncology fellows attending communication skills training were invited to participate in program-evaluation research. Before each workshop, participants provided demographic information and completed subjective communications skills and motivation questionnaires. Following the workshop, the subjective communication skills survey was repeated. Results: Fifty physician trainees participated. Half were female. Most were first-year fellows (81%), White/Caucasian (56%), non-Hispanic (92%). Mean age was 32 years ( SD= 3.63). Motivation for attending the workshop was most commonly external regulation (e.g., required participation; M= 5.66, SD= 1.38), followed by identified regulation (e.g., belief the workshop will be helpful; M= 4.30, SD= 1.26) and intrinsic motivation (e.g., interest in topic; M= 3.76, SD= 1.15). Amotivation was less common ( M= 2.47, SD= 1.35). All scales rated 1-7. A one-way ANOVA revealed significant differences in levels of identified regulation ( F(4,44) = 3.26, p= .020) and external regulation ( F(4,45) = 3.47, p= .015) between fellows of different specialties. Post-hoc comparisons revealed that Hematology Oncology fellows reported significantly lower levels of identified regulation than Hospice & Palliative Medicine fellows ( M difference = -1.35, p= .024). Hematology Oncology ( M difference = 1.60, p= .012) and Surgical Oncology fellows ( M difference = 1.67, p= .043) both reported significantly higher levels of external regulation than Hospice & Palliative Medicine fellows. However, there were no significant differences between specialties with regard to post-workshop preparedness or pre-post change in preparedness ( ps > .05). Conclusions: There is opportunity to create targeted interventions to improve physician motivation to participate in communication skills education by matching messaging to each specialty’s motivation type.