Baseline Assessment of Communication Skills of Undergraduate Medical Students at a Medical College in Bhopal

Abstract

Background & Objective: In India, competency-based medical education is in the initial stage of its implementation, which was rolled out countrywide in the year 2019. To develop/modify teaching-learning method of communication skills among students, it is necessary to assess the level of communication skills of the students as a baseline measure. The study was conducted with the objectives to assess the communication skills of medical students and, to assess the level of satisfaction of household members for the health education imparted by the medical students to the community. Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the field practice area of the Rural Health Training Centre of Chirayu Medical College and Hospitals, Bhopal. Fifty-five boys and fifty-five girls studying in the 3rd semester of the MBBS medical course were the study participants. Kalamazoo essential elements communication checklist to assess students' communication skills, and a questionnaire adapted from American Board of Internal Medicine to find out the level of satisfaction of household member counseled by the student, were used. Results: The majority (70%) of students was rated in the “poor” and “fair” category of ratings and no student was in the “excellent” category. Girls scored above boys and the difference in scores was statistically significant. Girls did better than boys in “very good” and “excellent” categories in beneficiary satisfaction scores and the difference between genders was statistically significant. Conclusion: The study draws attention to the need for inculcating habits of good communications skill among students during formative years through curriculum-based training.

Keywords

• communication
• medical students
• competency based education