Comparing research of doctor-patient communication between residents under standardized training and eight-year medical students: an example of Peking Union Medical College / 中华医学教育探索杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective The purpose of this study was to compare the self-evaluation and doctor-patient orientation between medical students and residents before the courses in different communication sections,and gave guide to different objects for their targeted teaching.Methods We set a sample made of 331 medical students and 308 residents who were trained in Clinical communication skills course in Peking Union Medical College from Oct.2009 to Oct.2013.Before the course,they were investigated by two self-assessment questionnaires.One is communication skills and occupation practice confidence;the other is doctor-patient orientation.Their result data were analyzed and handled by SPSS 17.0 software,adopting an independent samples t test.Results The order of the different aspects of doctor patient communication skills was same in two groups,gathering complete history [(4.340 ± 0.756) vs.(4.050 ± 0.707)] first,and establishing good doctor patient relationship [(4.310 ±0.740) vs.(4.030 ±0.790)],discussing a therapeutic plan with patient [(4.050 ± 0.812) vs.(3.600 ± 0.823)],informing bad news [(3.850 ± 0.897) vs.(3.260 ± 0.907)] followed.According to the self-assessment,residents were more confident than medical students in all these aspects above mentioned and establishing good doctor patient relationship.The doctorpatient orientation scale indicated that the residents group is more inclined to doctor-centric mode than the medical students group.Conclusion This study suggested that the residents is more confident in doctorpatient communication skills than medical students,while is less inclined to patient-centric mode than them.The focus of the communication teaching is similarity in the distribution of the two groups.Medical students' communication curriculum needs to take into account the limited clinical experiences,and training for residents needs to emphasize the capacity of empathy and perspective-taking.