Aiding the development of communication skills in medical students

Difficulties with doctor-patient communication continue to be recognized as a major barrier to effective patient care. A fundamental requirement for effective communication has been identified to be an understanding of the patient as an individual, yet most medical students are educationally and socially isolated from their patients and have difficulty in understanding their problems. In an attempt to encourage an understanding of the communication difficulties which follow such ignorance, a simple project was designed for, and conducted by, two groups of medical students during their initial period of clinical contact. Students first estimated the expected level of basic biological knowledge and the likely life-styles of their patients and then compared their estimates with data collected from patients. Students' initial estimates of both knowledge and life-style were poor, but improved significantly after data collection and discussion of results. In addition to improving their knowledge, students also recognized the benefit that such understanding could bring to the quality of communication. From these results, it is suggested that similar class exercises could be valuably introduced with minimum effort into the undergraduate curriculum, as the first of a series of steps in the acquisition of effective communication skills.