Medical students?? self-assessment accuracy in communication skills [published erratum appears in Acad Med 1997 Dec;72(12):1126]

Objective To evaluate the final-year medical students’ perception of their competencies related to palliative care. Materials and Methods Two consecutive anonymous surveys at 6 and 12 months among 6th-year medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University. Results One hundred and ten (66%) and 103 (62%) students completed the questionnaires at 6 and 12 months, respectively. With the criteria that at least 80% of them should be confident to manage the cases independently or under supervision, they perceived themselves to be good at holistic care and communication skills, but lacking in common symptoms management and ethical aspects. The common promoting factors and barriers for their learning experiences were reported. Conclusion This study identified many aspects necessary to improve the students’ learning experience in our compulsory longitudinal integrated palliative care curriculum.

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German Language Adaptation of the Kalamazoo Communication Skills Assessment Form (KCSAF): A Multi-Method Study of Two Cohorts of Medical Students

Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie ◽

10.1024/1010-0652/a000241 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 135-147

Author(s):

Kristina Schick ◽

Pascal O. Berberat ◽

Martina Kadmon ◽

Sigrid Harendza ◽

Martin Gartmeier

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Communication Skills ◽

Model Fit ◽

Skills Assessment ◽

Self Assessment ◽

Video Assessment ◽

Acceptable Model ◽

Conversational Competence ◽

Good Internal Consistency ◽

Standardised Patients

Abstract. This work investigates the German version of the Kalamazoo Communication Skills Assessment Form (KCSAFd) for three assessment methods: students' self-assessment (KCSAFd-self), assessment by standardised patients (KCSAFd-sPat) and video-assessment by trained raters (KCSAFd-video). Videotaped simulated patient consultations of N = 163 medical students from the first ( n = 97) and the final clinical years ( n = 66) were rated using the KCSAFd. Investigating the psychometric properties of the instrument, we found a two factor-construct with interpersonal and conversational competence. All methods showed good internal consistency and acceptable model fit values. Additionally, we found plausible relationships between the three methods and meaningful differences between the two groups of students.

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Razlogi za študij medicine in dentalne medicine pri študentih prvega letnika Medicinske fakultete v Ljubljani

Slovenian Medical Journal ◽

10.6016/zdravvestn.2468 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 86 (7-8) ◽

Author(s):

Janja Omejec ◽

Ana Stepišnik ◽

Polona Selič ◽

Marija Petek Šter

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Medical Students ◽

Human Health ◽

Communication Skills ◽

First Year ◽

Clinical Knowledge ◽

Self Assessment ◽

Good Doctor ◽

First Year Students ◽

Knowledge Communication

Aim: In addition to clinical knowledge, communication skills and sovereign decision making, a good doctor is also expected to posses Aim: In addition to clinical knowledge, communication skills and sovereign decision making, a good doctor is also expected to posses professional values, including the ability to establish empathic relationships with patients.The purpose of the study was to identify the reasons that lead students to choose the study of dental medicine/medicine, and determine the level of emphaty in relation to the choice of study in the first year students of the Faculty of Medicine in Ljubljana.Methods: For the needs of the research we developed a questionnaire, which included basic data on students, their reasons for choosing the study of medicine or dental medicine and the Jefferson scale of empathy–version for students (JSE-S version with a modified scale with 16 arguments). The questionnaire was forwarded to all 227 first-year students in the academic year 2014/15 at the completion of the Communication course.Results: The study involved a total of 216 (response 95.2 %) students; 158 medical students and 58 students of dental medicine. Among the reasons for enrollment to the Medical Faculty, the highest proportion of medical students indicated a desire to help people (85.3 %), a desire to improve human health (78.8 %) and a desire to work with people (64.7 %); 28.8 % of the medical students chose the argument „because employment is guarantee”, while 14.1 % of medical students believed the argument „because it is well paid“ was the reason to choose the study of medicine.The students of dental medicine most often choose the following answers: a desire to help people (87.9 %), a desire to improve human health (74.1 %), followed by a desire to work with people (65.5 %). The argument “because employment is guaranteed” convinced 50 % of the students, and the argument “because the pay is good” convinced 46.6 %.Three claims were significantly associated with self-assessment of empathic stance: the arguments “because I want to help people” (91.08 ± 10.65 vs. 86.61 ± 12.56; p = 0.037) and »because I want to work with people” (91.82 ± 10.18 vs. 87.90 ± 12.11; p = 0.012) were associated with a greater self-assessmentwhile the argument “because the pay is good” (91.36 ± 11.41 vs. 87.29 ± 9.01; p = 0.023) was associated with a lower self-assessment of empathic stance.Conclusion: Students who want to help people have higher level of self-assessment of empathic stance. The task of a medical faculty is to ensure that students whose choice of study is based on their humanist values are encouraged to have those values further developed and put into practice during their study.

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Assessing the development of communication skills in undergraduate medical students

Medical Education ◽

10.1046/j.1365-2923.2001.00869.x ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 35 (3) ◽

pp. 225-231 ◽

Cited By ~ 58

Author(s):

G M Humphris ◽

S Kaney

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Communication Skills ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students

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Opinions of medical students about standardized patient use in clinical communication skills assessment

Türkiye Aile Hekimliği Dergisi ◽

10.2399/tahd.09.023 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 23-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Güzel Dişcigil

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Communication Skills ◽

Skills Assessment ◽

Standardized Patient ◽

Clinical Communication ◽

Patient Use

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Medical Students and Patients Benefit from Virtual Non-Medical Interactions Due to COVID-19

Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development ◽

10.1177/23821205211028343 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

pp. 238212052110283

Author(s):

Taylor M Coe ◽

Trevor J McBroom ◽

Sarah A Brownlee ◽

Karen Regan ◽

Stephen Bartels ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Communication Skills ◽

Patient Experience ◽

Clinical Medicine ◽

Organ Transplant ◽

Medical Patient ◽

Pilot Program ◽

Transplant Recipients ◽

Kidney Transplant Recipients ◽

Clinical Communication

Background: Patient care restrictions created by the COVID-19 pandemic constrained medical students’ ability to interact directly with patients. Additionally, organ transplant recipients faced increasing isolation due to the rise of telemedicine, the importance of social distancing and their immunosuppressed state. We created a pilot program to pair students with transplant patients for structured, virtual encounters and studied its impact on medical students and patients. Methods: In May 2020, medical students conducted virtual visits with patients via telephone or video conferencing. Patients and students were surveyed regarding their experiences and independent focus groups were conducted. The survey responses and focus group discussions were deidentified, transcribed, and analyzed for themes. Results: Ten participating students were in their first, second, or final year of medical school. The 14 patients were liver or kidney transplant recipients or kidney donors. All interactions lasted longer than 30 minutes, with 56% greater than 1 hour. Three themes emerged related to the student experience: improvement of their clinical communication skills, development of knowledge and attitudes related to organ transplantation and donation, and independent management of a patient encounter. Three themes related to the patient experience: appreciation of the opportunity to share their personal patient experience to help educate future physicians, a cathartic and personally illuminating experience and an opportunity to share the message of donation. Conclusions: This pilot program provided a novel opportunity for virtual student-patient interactions that was feasible, well-received, and mutually beneficial. The use of virtual non-medical patient experiences allowed for experiential learning during which students learned about both clinical medicine and enhanced their communication skills directly from patients. Additionally, patients were able to engage with medical students in a new way, as teachers of clinical interactions, and reported a high level of satisfaction in addition to deriving personal benefit.

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Affective and cognitive components of students’ attitudes towards communication learning - validation of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale in a cohort of polish medical students

BMC Medical Education ◽

10.1186/s12909-021-02626-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Piotr Przymuszała ◽

Magdalena Cerbin-Koczorowska ◽

Patrycja Marciniak-Stępak ◽

Łucja Zielińska-Tomczak ◽

Martyna Piszczek ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Communication Skills ◽

Behavioral Control ◽

Attitude Scale ◽

Future Research ◽

Perceived Behavioral Control ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Retest Reliability ◽

Cognitive Components ◽

Test Retest Reliability

Abstract Background The Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) is a recognized tool for assessment of attitudes towards communication learning. In the original version, it consists of 26 items divided on theoretical assumptions into two subscales: Positive and Negative Attitudes Scales. However, the evidence for its structure seems unsatisfactory, and a simple division into positive and negative attitudes may be insufficient to describe attitudes of medical students towards communication learning. Moreover, the existing evidence of the test-retest reliability of the CSAS seems limited. Consequently, this study aimed to provide more evidence on its psychometric properties while validating the CSAS questionnaire in a cohort of Polish medical students. Methods The CSAS was translated, adapted into Polish, and validated in a cohort of 389 Polish medical students. Statistical analysis involved, among others, parallel analysis to determine the number of factors, confirmatory factor analysis to compare the proposed model with theory-based ones, and test-retest reliability analysis. Results Conducted analysis revealed that in the examined population, the CSAS should rather consist of four than two subscales. Proposed four subscales addressed perceived outcomes of communication learning, positive and negative attitudes towards it (affective components), and factors motivating students to learn communication (a cognitive component of attitudes). Results of test-retest reliability were satisfactory for individual items and subscales. Conclusions This study presented a valid and reliable version of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale for Polish medical students and confirmed previous assumptions that CSAS may also be appropriate for assessment of affective and cognitive components of attitudes. Future research should, based on Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior, make attempts to develop a tool assessing not only attitudes but also subjective norms and perceived behavioral control.

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Start the Way You Want to Finish: An Intensive Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Orientation Curriculum in Undergraduate Medical Education

Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development ◽

10.1177/23821205211000352 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

pp. 238212052110003

Author(s):

Denise L. F. Davis ◽

DoQuyen Tran-Taylor ◽

Elizabeth Imbert ◽

Jeffrey O. Wong ◽

Calvin L. Chou

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Communication Skills ◽

Personal Narratives ◽

Skills Training ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Relationship Building ◽

Cultural Humility ◽

Mindfulness Skills ◽

Orientation Week ◽

Equity And Inclusion

Problem: Medical students often feel unprepared to care for patients whose cultural backgrounds differ from their own. Programs in medical schools have begun to address health: inequities; however, interventions vary in intensity, effectiveness, and student experience. Intervention: The authors describe an intensive 2-day diversity, equity, and inclusion curriculum for medical students in their orientation week prior to starting formal classes. Rather than using solely a knowledge-based “cultural competence” or a reflective “cultural humility” approach, an experiential curriculum was employed that links directly to fundamental communication skills vital to interactions with patients and teams, and critically important to addressing interpersonal disparities. Specifically, personal narratives were incorporated to promote individuation and decrease implicit bias, relationship-centered skills practice to improve communication across differences, and mindfulness skills to help respond to bias when it occurs. Brief didactics highlighting student and faculty narratives of difference were followed by small group sessions run by faculty trained to facilitate sessions on equity and inclusion. Context: Orientation week for matriculating first-year students at a US medical school. Impact: Matriculating students highly regarded an innovative 2-day diversity, equity, and inclusion orientation curriculum that emphasized significant relationship-building with peers, in addition to core concepts and skills in diversity, equity, and inclusion. Lessons learned: This orientation represented an important primer to concepts, skills, and literature that reinforce the necessity of training in diversity, equity, and inclusion. The design team found that intensive faculty development and incorporating diversity concepts into fundamental communication skills training were necessary to perpetuate this learning. Two areas of further work emerged: (1) the emphasis on addressing racism and racial equity as paradigmatic belies further essential understanding of intersectionality, and (2) uncomfortable conversations about privilege and marginalization arose, requiring expert facilitation.

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