The conceptualisation of "soft skills" among medical students before and after curriculum reform

Abstract

Objective: This paper reports on the conceptualisation of "soft skills" as part of a study carried out among two groups of undergraduate medical students before and after curriculum reform at the School of Medicine of the University of Pretoria. Congruent with a call from the World Psychiatric Association, the curriculum reform that was undertaken aimed, inter alia, to place more emphasis on soft skills, including professional interpersonal and social skills, communication skills, and professional and ethical attitudes. Methods: Qualitative methods were used to arrive at a descriptive comparison of the conceptualisation of soft skills by final-year medical students of the traditional curriculum with those of final-year students who had followed the reformed curriculum. A purposive-theoretical sampling method was followed; 42 students from the traditional curriculum and 49 from the reformed curriculum were sampled. Data were collected from seven focus groups, 16 individual interviews, and 23 essays (autobiographical sketches). Results: Both groups of students revealed conceptualisations of soft skills that were similar in kind. The themes they pinpointed were the doctor-patient relationship; relationships with other professionals; being a good listener; explaining things to patients; using good communication skills; establishing rapport with patients from different cultural backgrounds; having a professionally correct attitude; being really interested in patients' well being; having empathy; coping with patients, managing difficult situations, and being ethical and professional. However, the traditional curriculum students offered fewer examples and described fewer experiences that exemplified their soft skills. Students following the reformed curriculum gave rich accounts of their conceptualisation in terms of their own experiences and practical examples of how soft skills had been or could be used, particularly in difficult interpersonal situations. Moreover, they came up with helpful ways of dealing with difficult situations, which surpassed the suggestions offered by the students following the traditional curriculum. Conclusion: The educational and training efforts of the reformed curriculum are associated with an adeptness on the part of the students at applying soft skills to the demands of difficult clinical situations.

Non-technical skills and health care provision in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review

“…The results were mixed, with one study in western Nepal showing an association between positive attitude scores and prior completion of a communication skills curriculum, whereas a similar study in Sri Lanka found no significant association . A South African study demonstrated that longitudinal curricular reform focused on the teaching of interpersonal, social and communication skills led to a more mature and practical understanding of communication skills in the workplace . We were unable to identify any studies that evaluated communication between health care providers involved in team‐based care in a LMIC context.…”

“…There were no context‐specific assessment or educational tools for NTS of providers in LMICs identified in this review. However, five studies described other training or assessment efforts that incorporated individual elements of NTS . Researchers in Tanzania and Guyana reported on their experience performing trauma team training (TTT) .…”

“…Although the TTT assessment is overwhelmingly focused on medical knowledge and technical skill, 6% of the assessment was focused on teamwork behaviours, including identification of team roles, clear verbalisation of findings and overall team cohesion, grouped into a single assessment. Researchers in Nepal, Sri Lanka and South Africa reported on communication training programmes for undergraduate medical students and found mixed results . All but one of these assessments were developed in high‐income countries and applied without modification to LMIC settings.…”

Medical students' perceptions of their development of ‘soft skills’ Part II: The development of ‘soft skills’ through ‘guiding and growing’

“…6 The views on their development of soft skills differed very little between the traditional and reformed curriculum groups, except for students from the reformed curriculum seeming 'more prepared, and [feeling] that teaching and training efforts left then well-equipped with soft skills'. 7 Further consideration needs to be given to the intention of a changed curriculum compared to the real effect. In this regard, the following comment by Coulehan may be relevant: '… in an attempt to render professionalism more quantifiable, it may use skills and practices as surrogates for virtue.'…”

Awareness of Dental Personnel of Two Dental Colleges in A.P, on the Role of Soft Skills in Dentistry- A Survey

“…This present study results are also in line with the above study. Van Staden CW mentioned that, teaching soft skills as «Golden Threads" for the undergraduates to achieve competencies towards inter personal skills and professional, ethical attitudes (Table 11) [20]. Depicts the attitude of dental personnel towards training of communicative skills which will improve dentist's ability to communicate with the patients easily.…”