Effect of an Interprofessional Approach on the Communication Skills of Undergraduate Medical Students

Communication skills play a pivotal role in enhancing the clinical acumen of physicians. Formal training in this aspect is urgently needed in India due to increased patient-clinician conflicts. The present study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude toward clinical communication skills among undergraduate medical students and provide training by an interprofessional approach.

This interventional study was conducted on 35 phase-two medical students who were assessed in terms of their knowledge and attitude toward communication skills. Following that, training workshops encompassing various interactive sessions were implemented by an interprofessional team. Categorical variables were expressed as numbers and percentages, and continuous variables were expressed as mean and standard deviation. Paired t-test was used to compare the mean scores at the significance level of P<0.05.

The majority of the students (91.4%) opined that communication skills are essential for a medical practitioner. The mentors’ assessment indicated an increase in the mean score of communication skills (17.8±2.47) after the interventional training workshops compared to the pre-intervention score (6.9±5.67; P<0.05). In addition, the post-training feedback revealed that 94.3% of the students believed that the training provided an insight into understanding the importance of having proper communication skills in fostering strong therapeutic patient care.

According to the results, the students had a positive attitude toward learning communication skills. Our findings emphasize the teaching of these skills through an integrated, interprofessional approach to make the learning experience more productive.