Impact of focused training on communication skills of final-year medical students in a medical school in India.

BACKGROUND: Although communication skills are important for a good physician-patient relationship, Indian medical curricula give very little emphasis on training medical students in this aspect.

AIMS: To determine the change in communication skills of final-year medical students following focused training.

METHODS: This was an educational interventional study done at Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, a tertiary care teaching hospital in South India, to assess communication skills among final-year MBBS students. Fifty-two students (24 males and 28 females) participated in the study. A pre-test was conducted in the form of an objectively structured clinical examination (OSCE), followed by focused training for four hours. The same OSCE was administered as post-test. A comparison between the pre-test and post-test scores was done using Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test.

RESULTS: Ninety-six per cent of participants (50 out of 52) showed improvement in their performance after the focused training. The mean marks of the pre-test and post-test were 10.77± 3 and 18.04±2, respectively, out of a maximum mark of 20 (p<0.05). One out of 52 participants did not show any improvement, and one participant scored less in the post-test compared to the pre-test. There was no significant difference in the performance between male and female students.

CONCLUSION: Focused training can enhance the communication skills of medical students. Hence, it may be included in the curriculum of undergraduate medical teaching programmes in India.