Health communication training for physicians: a qualitative study among UFS medical students
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Date
2002
Authors
Pepler, Elsabe
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
Complaints from patients about their doctors' communication have
been on the increase during the past decades .. A certain group of
researchers are of the opinion that doctors find themselves fully in the
world of human sciences as they are working with psychologicallyburdened
people all the time, whilst others suggest that doctors are
"pure" scientists, dealing only with diseases and sick bodies. In view
of the overburdened schedule of medical students trying to cope with
various medical curricula, communication as a fully-incorporated
subject has not been high on the international agenda. However, a
literature and applied research study has shown a definite shift of
perspective toward the need for focused communication education.
Although there is general agreement about the inferior quality of
communication in the medical context emanating from health
professionals, it is extremely difficult to pinpoint the locus of
communication barriers. Medical students at the UFS, excluding
first-years, were asked to participate in a qualitative study on the
necessity of communication training in their fomzal curricula. The
majority of students emphasised the need for practical
communication training, and viewed the areas of empathy, listening,
interviewing and nonverbal communication as crucially important.
An emphasis on skills proved to be critical, whilst the students
indicated a definite need for practical skills training during all years of training.
Description
Keywords
Medical students, University of the Free State, Communication, Teaching
Citation
Pepler, E. (2002). Health communication training for physicians: a qualitative study among UFS medical students. Communitas, 7, 87-101.