A Survey on Communication Skills of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences Faculty Members in 2013

The learning quality of students would be increased provided that university professors and academy members utilize appropriately communication skills. Therefore, this study was conducted in order to investigate the status and level of communication skills of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences (RUMS) faculty members. In this cross-sectional study, a two-part questionnaire was used. The first section has been designated to demographic questions including gender, age, the history of teaching, the administrative type of engagement, academic rank, number of presented credits, administrative duties, department, school and participation in communication skills workshops. The second part consisted of questions of Communication Skills Test-Revised based on Likert's five-choice scale. The data were analyzed by descriptive and analytical statistical methods including correlation coefficient, and comparison of means tests. The score of communication skills in our study was equal to 92.56±7.25. There was no statistically significant relation between communication skills score and variables such as age, gender, the history of teaching, the number of presented credits, department, school, academic rank, administrative duties, the administrative type of engagement, and participation in communication skills workshops. Overall,the level of communication skills of RUMS faculty members was determined as intermediate compared to that of their colleagues in other Iranian universities. The results emphasize that academy members need to be educated more for these skills.