Attitude of Medical and Dental Undergraduate Students Towards Learning of Communication Skills at a Medical College: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

Introduction: Proper physician-patient communication has shown to impact patients' satisfaction, and better health outcomes. On the contrary, negative impacts of poor communication have been attributed as one of the causes of increasing workplace violence. It is imperative to identify the attitude of the students towards communication skill learning. The aim of the study was to find out the attitude of undergraduate students towards communication skill learning using the communication skill attitude scale.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out from October, 2022 to July 2023 among undergraduate medical and dental students. Data was collected after obtaining the ethical approval from Institutional Review Committee (IRC number 2079/80/82) using a preformed proforma and the previously validated communication skills attitude scale questionnaire. Convenience sampling was done. The demographic details, educational characteristics, opinions regarding communication learning and median of positive and negative attitude scale scores were calculated using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).

Results: The total median (interquartile range) positive attitudes scale (PAS) and negative attitudes scale (NAS) scores were 52.00 (48.00-87.00) and 31.00 (28.00-34.00) respectively. The first year of undergraduates had higher PAS scores 56.00 (50.00-60.00) than final year 48.50 (44.25-55.00). The students who were in favour of CS learning during the clinical years of training had a higher PAS median score, 54.00 (49.00-58.00).

Conclusions: The undergraduates had overall positive attitude towards CS learning but negative attitudes were also noted, with deterioration in the scores from first to final year of undergraduation, reiterating the importance of strengthening CS learning in the curriculum early-on in the study period.