Do educational interventions reduce the gender gap in communication skills?- a systematic review

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Communication Skills Training
• Gender Studies in Medicine

Background:

• Effective doctor-patient communication is crucial for enhancing patient care.
• A systematic review was needed to assess educational interventions' impact on medical students' communication skills, particularly concerning gender differences.
• This review identifies and evaluates interventions aimed at improving communication abilities within medical curricula for male and female students.

Approach:

• A comprehensive systematic literature review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines.
• Inclusion criteria focused on studies utilizing communication skill improvement strategies with medical student participants.
• The review encompassed primary research, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses to ensure a broad scope.

Key Points:

• 58 studies were included, featuring interventions like training courses, curriculum integration, patient learning, and community-based learning.
• 69% of studies reported equal communication skill improvements for both genders; 28% favored females, and 3% favored males.
• Post-intervention scores significantly improved for both male and female students (p < 0.001), indicating universal benefit.

Conclusions:

• Communication training integrated into medical education demonstrably enhances medical students' communication skills, regardless of gender.
• While female students sometimes show higher post-intervention scores, the overall benefit and improvement from pre- to post-intervention are equivalent between genders.
• Further research is recommended to explore and address any identified gender gaps in communication skills and to develop targeted strategies for minimization.