Teaching and Learning Communication Skills in Medical Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to review communication skills education in medical education. This analysis looks at the reasons why communication skills education is difficult and how to design an effective curriculum for communication skills education. Problems in communication skills education are discussed, especially in relation to the complexity of the communication between patients and physicians, the changing of the communication model, and curriculum composition. Findings show that it is necessary to design a spiral curriculum for communication skills education, to harmonize theory and practice of communication, to encourage student participation, and to provide feedback to students. To educate communication skills, this paper concludes, professors in charge of communication skills education must seriously consider their teaching and evaluating methods and practice what they teach.