Abstract

Background: There is a lack of emphasis on formal training and assessment of clinical communication skills in undergraduate medical course in India which is considered to be an essential competency for a primary care physician.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to evaluate the clinical communication skills training (CST) program for medical interns.

Materials and Methods: The present mixed methods evaluation was done for clinical CST program where all the medical interns posted in the Department of Community Medicine (53) over the period of 6 months (a batch of twenty interns posted for every 2 months) underwent the training. Quantitative data (self-rating by students and faculty rating on clinical communication skills) and qualitative data (open-ended responses from students and a group interview with faculty on lessons learned and challenges faced) were collected. The quantitative data were entered and analyzed using Epi Info software. Manual content analysis of qualitative data was done.

Results: The number of students rating themselves as “competent” significantly improved from 17 (32%) before to 44 (83%) after 2 months of the training program (P < 0.05). The mean (standard deviation) perceived score for clinical communication skills significantly improved from 2.26 ± 0.8 to 3.4 ± 0.8 (P < 0.01). Medical interns felt that the training and assessment had an effect on their knowledge domain and acquired skills such as the ability to communicate with the patients, rapport building, and trust building. The problems faced by the assessing faculty were related to lack of time and space constraints at the training centers.

Conclusion: Overall, we found that the clinical CST program was well received by the students and supported by the faculty.

Key words: Health Communication; Internship; Self-assessment; Feedback; Workplace