Attitudes Of Recently Admitted Undergraduate Medical Students Towards Learning Communication-Skills: A Cross-Sectional Study From Chitwan Medical College

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The success story of a modern-day physician centers substantially on the knowledge of proper communication-skills with patients and their bedside relatives. Therefore, it has become extremely important to start a communication-skills course early on in undergraduate medical study, but to date, this has been given relatively little or no emphasis. In the present study, an attempt was made to assess the attitude of undergraduate medical newbies towards learning communication-skills, and the association between attitude and various student characteristics. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 99 recently admitted undergraduate medical students at Chitwan Medical College were included in the study, and their attitude towards communication-skills training was measured using the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS). RESULTS: A positive learning attitude was found in over 50% of participants. The idea of a requirement of communication-skills curriculum was associated with a positive learning attitude. Gender, age, and past educational institute were not associated with communication skills learning attitude. CONCLUSION: This study provides perceptions of newly admitted undergraduate medical students towards communication-skills learning. We suggest the integration of communication-skills curriculum into the undergraduate medical syllabus, with an acceptable, focused, and interesting teaching module.