Relationships between undergraduate medical students’ attitudes toward communication skills learning and demographics in Zambia: a survey-based descriptive study

Ezeala, Mercy Ijeoma Okwudili; Volk, John

doi:10.3352/jeehp.2023.20.16

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 15 publications

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“…Four domains of the Persian version of CSAS were importance, excuse, learning, and overconfidence considered in assessing attitudes. This widespread application of the questionnaire within [ 9 , 15 ] and beyond the borders of Iran [ 9 , 11 , 12 , 16 – 18 , 22 – 27 ] attests to its cross-cultural and international validity. The instrument’s versatility in capturing attitudes toward communication skills suggests its effectiveness in transcending geographical and cultural boundaries.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitudes toward learning communication skills among Iranian medical students

Kandevani,

Labaf,

Mirzazadeh

et al. 2024

BMC Med Educ

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Background Attitudes determine behavior, and alterations in attitude may result in behavioral changes. Medical students would benefit from learning communication skills. This study aimed to determine the attitude of medical students toward the importance of learning communication skills and the training courses and their role in contributing. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 442 medical students from three different levels of medical training were enrolled. Students in the first 4 years of the medical program were classified as basic sciences and physiopathology students, those in the fifth and sixth years were classified as clerkship students, and those in the last three terms of medical training were classified as interns. The attitude among these three groups was assessed by the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) questionnaire, and the contributing factors were determined. Results The mean total points for attitude in positive and negative aspects were 50.7 and 30.9, respectively showing a positive attitude toward communication skills among medical students. The median scores of the scales Important in Medical Content, Excuse, Learning, and Overconfidence varied significantly from highest to lowest, respectively. Gender, educational level, ethnic origin, language, family burden, paternal literacy, history of presence in communication skills courses, self-report from communication skills, and need to further learning in this era showed significant association with attitude (P < 0.05). Conclusions It may be concluded that generally, medical students have a positive attitude toward communication skills, and this perspective is a multi-factorial entity that programming according to the various related factors would help to attainment of additional communication capabilities among medical students.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitudes toward learning communication skills among Iranian medical students

Kandevani,

Labaf,

Mirzazadeh

et al. 2024

BMC Med Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Students’ perspectives on communication skills’ course learning modes in two medical schools in Zambia: An interview-based descriptive study

Ezeala,

Volk

2024

Preprint

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Introduction This study sought the views of undergraduate medical students on the effectiveness of their modes of instruction in communication skills knowledge and skills acquisition and transfer. Understanding the teaching-learning experiences from the students’ viewpoint could influence communication skills course facilitators to adopt instructional modes and learning experiences that enhance competency development in communication skills. It could also emphasize the need for curriculum developers to review the medical school curriculum, specifying student-centered and active learning pedagogical practices. Methods The descriptive study involved an in-depth semi-structured interview of eight undergraduate medical students from two medical schools in Zambia, who participated in communication skills training, selected through a purposive nonprobability sampling. The study mostly appropriated Tracy’s phronetic iterative analysis during its thematic analysis of the textual data collected between April and May 2022. Results The participants affirmed the importance of communication skills to their medical training but, decried the dominance of lecture-based delivery, limited interactive sessions, untimely and inadequate feedback from teachers and peers, inefficacy of teaching communication skills as theory, and limited understanding and distraction from online delivery as factors that hindered communication skills teaching-learning. Conclusion Although the students expressed communication skills as pivotal to their training and medical practice, their experiences of learning the skills through non-experiential and traditional lecture-based methods did not facilitate the motivation required for mastery and competency, suggesting that facilitators and curriculum planners should reevaluate the teaching-learning modes and process.

show abstract

Relationships between undergraduate medical students’ attitudes toward communication skills learning and demographics in Zambia: a survey-based descriptive study

Cited by 2 publications

References 15 publications

Attitudes toward learning communication skills among Iranian medical students

Attitudes toward learning communication skills among Iranian medical students

Students’ perspectives on communication skills’ course learning modes in two medical schools in Zambia: An interview-based descriptive study

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