Doctor-patient communication ability of clinical graduates: taking Hubei University of Medicine as an example / 中华医学教育探索杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the current situation of doctor-patient communication ability and analyze the reasons and countermeasures, so as to provide a reference for the ability cultivation.Methods:We collected the data with survey sampling techniques from 366 graduates of clinical medicine in Grade 2016 at Hubei University of Medicine through a self-designed questionnaire and field interview. Similarly, a total of 266 patients and their family members were asked to evaluate the doctor-patient communication ability of the graduates. Kolmogorov-Smimov Z test was adopted for the enumeration data with skewed distribution, while chi-square test was applied for the enumeration data with normal distribution. The significance level was shown as α=0.05 in the analyses. Results:The doctor-patient communication ability of clinical graduates was far from perfect. The overall matching rate of non-verbal skills (including 4 items of personal appearance, body language, speech rate, voice volume and eye contact) reached 63.5% (930/1 464), while the number dropped below 50% regarding their verbal communication, listening and comprehension skills, professionalism and medical ethics. Graduates of different genders showed different communicative abilities. The self-assessments of graduates differed from the evaluations of patients and their family members.Conclusion:We suggest to lay stress on the cultivation of interpersonal communicative skills of undergraduates; reinforce the education on doctor-patient communication ability, especially on medical ethics and professionalism; enhance continuing education on communicative ability of young doctors.