Evaluating the effectiveness of ‘AETCOM Module’ on the medical interns posted in peripheral health centres of a tertiary care medical college in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu

INTRODUCTION: Effective communication skills between doctor and patient leads to enhanced patient satisfaction, better compliance to treatment and improved health outcomes. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of Attitude, Ethics and Communication (AETCOM) module in improving the communication skills of the interns posted in peripheral health centres after methodical training and approach. METHODS: A Module based interventional study was conducted among the medical interns posted in in the months of December 2019 and February 2020 at Rural Health Training Center (RHTC) and Urban Health Training Center (UHTC). The tool used to assess the interns was Kalamazoo Essential Element Communication checklist (KEEC) based on Kalamazoo Consensus Statement (KCS) comprising 7 components. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The difference in the means of pre test scores and post test scores were analyzed for statistical significance using Paired T test (p value < 0.05 considered significant). RESULTS: The post-test scores were higher when compared to the pre-test scores with regard to batch, gender, mother tongue, center where the interns were posted and type of batch and these findings were statistically significant. Females had better competencies of opening discussion, understanding the patient’s perspective, reaching agreement and providing appropriate enclosure to discussion than males and it was found to be statistically significant. CONCLUSION: AETCOM Module is effective in improving the communication skills of the medical students, which in turn will prevent malpractices and litigations against doctors in the near future.