Jonna Koponen1, Eeva Pyörälä, Pekka Isotalus. 1. The School of Communication, Media and Theatre, University of Tampere, Finland. jonnapauliina.koponen@uef.fi
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Despite numerous studies exploring medical students' attitudes to communication skills learning (CSL), there are apparently no studies comparing different experiential learning methods and their influence on students' attitudes. AIMS: We compared medical students' attitudes to learning communication skills before and after a communication course in the data as a whole, by gender and when divided into three groups using different methods. METHOD:Second-year medical students (n = 129) were randomly assigned to three groups. In group A (n = 42) the theatre in education method, in group B (n = 44) simulated patients and in group C (n = 43) role-play were used. The data were gathered before and after the course using Communication Skills Attitude Scale. RESULTS:Students' positive attitudes to learning communication skills (PAS; positive attitude scale) increased significantly and their negative attitudes (NAS; negative attitude scale) decreased significantly between the beginning and end of the course. Female students had more positive attitudes than the male students. There were no significant differences in the three groups in the mean scores for PAS or NAS measured before or after the course. CONCLUSIONS: The use of experiential methods and integrating communication skills training with visits to health centres may help medical students to appreciate the importance of CSL.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: Despite numerous studies exploring medical students' attitudes to communication skills learning (CSL), there are apparently no studies comparing different experiential learning methods and their influence on students' attitudes. AIMS: We compared medical students' attitudes to learning communication skills before and after a communication course in the data as a whole, by gender and when divided into three groups using different methods. METHOD: Second-year medical students (n = 129) were randomly assigned to three groups. In group A (n = 42) the theatre in education method, in group B (n = 44) simulated patients and in group C (n = 43) role-play were used. The data were gathered before and after the course using Communication Skills Attitude Scale. RESULTS: Students' positive attitudes to learning communication skills (PAS; positive attitude scale) increased significantly and their negative attitudes (NAS; negative attitude scale) decreased significantly between the beginning and end of the course. Female students had more positive attitudes than the male students. There were no significant differences in the three groups in the mean scores for PAS or NAS measured before or after the course. CONCLUSIONS: The use of experiential methods and integrating communication skills training with visits to health centres may help medical students to appreciate the importance of CSL.
Authors: Patricia A Carney; Ryan T Palmer; Marissa Fuqua Miller; Erin K Thayer; Sue E Estroff; Debra K Litzelman; Frances E Biagioli; Cayla R Teal; Ann Lambros; William J Hatt; Jason M Satterfield Journal: Acad Med Date: 2016-05 Impact factor: 6.893
Authors: Conor Gilligan; Martine Powell; Marita C Lynagh; Bernadette M Ward; Chris Lonsdale; Pam Harvey; Erica L James; Dominique Rich; Sari P Dewi; Smriti Nepal; Hayley A Croft; Jonathan Silverman Journal: Cochrane Database Syst Rev Date: 2021-02-08