Perceptions of medical students and their facilitators on clinical communication skills teaching, learning, and assessment

Abstract

IntroductionDespite various efforts to develop communication skills (CS) in the classroom, the transfer of these skills into clinical practice is not guaranteed. This study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators of transferring CS from the classroom to clinical environments.MethodsA qualitative study was conducted at one Australian medical school to explore the experiences and perceptions of facilitators and students in relation to teaching and learning clinical CS. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data.ResultsTwelve facilitators and sixteen medical students participated in semi-structured interviews and focus-group discussions, respectively. Primary themes included the value of teaching and learning, alignment between approaches to teaching and actual clinical practices and students’ perceptions of practice, and challenges in different learning environments.DiscussionThis study reinforces the value of teaching and learning CS by facilitators and students. Classroom learning provides students with a structure to use in communicating with real patients, which can be modified to suit various situations. Students have limited opportunities, however, to be observed and receive feedback on their real-patient encounters. Classroom session that discussed CS experiences during clinical rotation is recommended to strengthen learning both the content and process of CS as well as transitioning to the clinical environment.

Teaching Breaking Bad News in a gyneco-oncological setting: a feasibility study implementing the SPIKES framework for undergraduate medical students

“…In addition, despite the implementation of CST into medical curricula, it is not guaranteed that the skills are learned and acquired in a sustained way, since different interest of the students in uence the acceptance and application to offered seminars. 31 . The acceptance on the seminars could be demonstrated in those studies on CST recruiting volunteer participants 31 .…”

“…31 . The acceptance on the seminars could be demonstrated in those studies on CST recruiting volunteer participants 31 . In contrast to the latter study, our seminar was compulsory, ruling out a selection bias as all students were required to attend the seminar regardless of their interest in CST and BBN.…”

Teaching breaking bad news in a gyneco-oncological setting: a feasibility study implementing the SPIKES framework for undergraduate medical students

“…Therefore, it must be integrated in most subspecialties, should not be taught separately [ 31 ] and validated teaching concepts for BBN seminars are urgently needed. In addition, despite the implementation of CST into medical curricula, it is not guaranteed that the skills are learned and acquired in a sustained way, since different interest of the students influence the acceptance and application to offered seminars [ 32 ]. The acceptance of such seminars could be demonstrated in those studies on CST recruiting volunteer participants [ 32 ].…”

“…In addition, despite the implementation of CST into medical curricula, it is not guaranteed that the skills are learned and acquired in a sustained way, since different interest of the students influence the acceptance and application to offered seminars [ 32 ]. The acceptance of such seminars could be demonstrated in those studies on CST recruiting volunteer participants [ 32 ]. In contrast to the latter study, our seminar was compulsory, ruling out a selection bias as all students were required to attend the seminar regardless of their interest in CST and BBN.…”