Perceived Communication Skills Among Tertiary Care Physicians.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Healthcare Communication
• Physician Self-Assessment

Background:

• Self-perception of clinical skills, including communication skills (CS), offers insights into physician strengths and weaknesses.
• Understanding physicians' self-assessed CS is crucial for identifying areas for professional development in tertiary healthcare settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the self-perceived communication skills (CS) among physicians working at a tertiary healthcare level in Saudi Arabia.

Main Methods:

• A modified self-questionnaire was administered to physicians at a tertiary hospital in Saudi Arabia.
• Descriptive and association studies were conducted, and the psychometric properties of the questionnaire were evaluated.

Main Results:

• Out of 101 physicians, 57.2% rated their CS as very good to excellent, but only 30.7% considered them overall excellent.
• Encouraging patient questions received the highest score (4.2 ± 0.9), while information disclosure had the lowest (3.8 ± 0.8).
• Males reported higher self-perceived CS than females in explaining information (p < 0.05), and non-surgical physicians rated themselves higher in expressing patient interest (p < 0.05).

Conclusions:

• Less than one-third of tertiary care physicians self-assess their communication skills as excellent.
• Multisystem assessment of CS is recommended for future studies.
• The findings highlight the need for targeted communication skills training for physicians in tertiary care settings.