Teaching and assessment of basic clinical communication skills among undergraduate third year medical students in Gujarat

Abstract

Background: Good communication skills are essential components of physician-training. Effective communication between the doctor and the patient leads to better compliance, better health outcomes, decreased litigation, and higher satisfaction both for doctors and patients. The acquisition of communication and interpersonal skills is recognized and documented as a core competency for physician training in many countries. In the absence of proper training, Indian medical graduates often have less than adequate communication skills and the demand for formal training in this area has often been echoed. Aim and objectives were to know the attitude and ascertain the change in attitude, assess basic communication skills, ascertain the change in basic clinical communication skills (before and after training) and to impart training regarding communication skills by using different teaching learning methods to undergraduate medical students (third year).Methods: An interventional study was conducted using convenience sampling method. Assessment of attitude, communication skills and self-competence of communication skills was done using standardized questionnaires. Data analysis was done by using appropriate statistical tests.Results: Total 60 students participated in the study. The change in the mean scores of pre-training and post-training attitude, SEGUE (set the stage, elicit information, give information, understand patient’s perspective, end the encounter) framework score and self-assessment of communication competence scores were statistically significant before and after training.Conclusions: After training undergraduate medical students by using variety of effective training methods; their attitude towards learning communication skills changed positively and their basic clinical communication skills improved significantly.