The effect of undergraduate education in communication skills: a randomised controlled clinical trial.

Full Abstract

PURPOSE: To determine whether students improve their communication skills as a result of supervised patient care and whether a newly implemented communication course could further improve these skills. METHOD: We conducted a randomised, controlled trial including all participants of the first clinical treatment course (n = 26) between October 2006 and February 2007. Randomisation was balanced by gender and basic communication skills. The test group practised dentist-patient communication skills in small groups with role-plays and videotaped real patient interviews, whereas the control group learned in problem-based workshops both on a weekly basis. Before and after the interventions (two group pre- and post-design) all students conducted two interviews with simulated patients. The encounters were rated using a 10-item checklist derived from the Calgary-Cambridge Observation Guide I. RESULTS: Repeated measures ANOVA (alpha = 0.05) showed a significant difference of the sum scores of the ratings between test and control group (P = 0.004). The participants educated in communication skills improved significantly (Delta = +14.9; P = 0.004), whereas in the control group no accretion of practical communication competence was observed (Delta = -3.9; P = 0.23). CONCLUSION: It could be demonstrated that solely interacting with patients during a clinical treatment course did not inevitably improve professional communication skills. In contrast, implementation of a course in communication skills improved the practical competence in dentist-patient interaction.

Author information

Author/s: Haak, Rainer (R); Rosenbohm, Jakob (J); Koerfer, Armin (A); Obliers, Rainer (R); Wicht, Michael J (MJ);

Affiliation: Department of Operative Dentistry and Periodontology, School of Dental Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. rainer.haak(-atsign-)uk-koeln.de

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial

Journal: European journal of dental education : official journal of the Association for Dental Education in Europe (Eur J Dent Educ), published in Denmark. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Nov; vol 12 (issue 4) : pp 213-8

Dates: Created 2008/11/21; Completed 2009/03/03;

PMID: 19021727, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 3/10/2009, IMS Date: 10 Mar 2009 00:00:00)

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