Pakistan Journal of Medical Research (Jan 2023)
Professional Communication Skills among House Job Interns in Public Sector Teaching Hospital of Karachi
Abstract
Background: In hospital, doctors have to deal with emergencies and challenging situations. Effective communication often empowers them to manage those situations tactfully. Hence it is very important to assess the professional communication skills of young doctors of the public sector teaching hospitals. Objective: To determine the quality of professional communication skills and their relation with clinical departments among the house job interns of public sector teaching hospital. Study type, settings & duration: This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in Dr. Ruth K.M. Pfau Civil Hospital, Karachi during one month from 1st to 30th March 2021. Methodology: This study of one month duration was conducted on 108 house job interns who had completed their one year house job at Dr. Ruth K.M. Pfau Civil Hospital, Karachi in various clinical departments including General medicine, Surgery, Psychiatry and Gynecology. A self-administered, validated questionnaire, Health professional communication skills scale (HP-CSS) was used to assess the quality of communication skills of house job interns. After taking informed consent an equal number of male and female interns were enrolled to assess their communication skills. Results: The mean age of 108 study participants was 24.6±0.9 years. Overall their mean communication skills score on HP-CSS was 83.98±10.27.These scores in relation to General medicine and surgery, Psychiatry and Gynecology-Obstetrics departments were 83.7 (77.5%), 87.2 (80.7%) and 79.1 (73%) respectively. Overall gender difference was significant, male interns scored higher 86 (79.7%) as compared to females 81.8 (75.7%). Conclusion: The house job interns who worked in the psychiatry department had significantly better communication skills than that of other departments of the same tertiary care hospital. Further male doctors have better communication skills than female. However, to reinforce the effectiveness of those skills, these need to be taught and examined by their clinical teachers throughout their training period.
