What Shapes Medical Students' Engagement With Communication Skills Learning in Tabuk- Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Communication Skills Training
• Attitudinal Engagement

Background:

• Communication skills training (CST) is crucial for medical students.
• Understanding student attitudes towards CST is key to improving engagement.
• The Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) framework offers a method to assess these attitudes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the CSAS framework for identifying factors influencing medical students' attitudinal engagement with CST.
• To assess positive and negative attitudes towards CST and their relationship with demographics and academic year.
• To compare attitudes across Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) years and examine associations with an attitudinal Engagement Index (EI).

Main Methods:

• A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was administered to 179 undergraduate MBBS students at the University of Tabuk.
• The validated 26-item CSAS was used to measure positive attitude scale (PAS) and negative attitude scale (NAS) scores.
• The EI was calculated (PAS-NAS), and statistical analyses included t tests and ANOVA to compare groups and explore associations.

Main Results:

• Medical students reported significantly higher positive attitudes (PAS) than negative attitudes (NAS) towards CST.
• Female students exhibited higher PAS and EI scores compared to male students.
• A notable decline in attitudes was observed in the fourth academic year, indicating a vulnerable period.

Conclusions:

• Negative attitudes towards CST are strongly linked to reduced attitudinal engagement.
• The fourth year of medical school presents a critical transition period with potential for declining engagement.
• Curricula should actively counter negative stereotypes, integrate CST with clinical reasoning, and emphasize role modeling to enhance student engagement.