Impact of Communication Skills Training Programme on Interns in a Medical College of India

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Communicative skills in medical education are inadequately met. Research has shown that poor communication can contribute to improper diagnosis and lack of understanding of patient's problems, investigations, and treatment options. Poor communication can lead to poor compliance to treatment and dissatisfaction among patients Objective: Assessment of the improvement in the communication skills after the training programme workshop Method: The interns posted in the department of community medicine were pre-tested using Kalamazoo Essential Elements Communication Checklist (Adapted) [KEECCA] who then underwent focused training by the trained faculty members. Two weeks following completion of training, all participants were subjected to a post-test and comparison between the pre-test and post-test scores was done using Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test. The test was two sided and a p value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. In order to know the effect of sensitization programme, feedback of the students and the faculty members as the assessors was taken after the completion of the posting Results: On the application of wilcoxon signed rank test, it was found that the difference between the pre and post test scores of assessment on kalamazoo scale after the training of interns on communication skills was found to be statistically significant as the t-value was 4.072 with the pvalue less than 0.001 that is also highly statistically significant Conclusions: The incorporation of communication skills in the medical curriculum will not only improve the doctor patient relationship but also help in arriving at the proper diagnosis through improved skills