Diagnosis of interpersonal competences in the students of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Jagiellonian University Medical College and their need to improve communication with the patient based on the basics of psychotherapy

Introduction:
Assessment of interpersonal competences of medical students is important for building interpersonal contacts and improving the patient contact skills. Interpersonal competences constitute a particular aspect of social competences, i.e. skills enabling effective coping with various interpersonal situations. They are important in medical professions and constitute the basis for building professional relationships. The aim of the study was to diagnose interpersonal competences in the students of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Jagiellonian University Medical College and get to know their needs concerning improving communication with patients based on the basics of psychotherapy.

Material and methods:
The study included 147 first-cycle students of Nursing, Emergency Medical Services, and Physiotherapy. The research used the ICQ-R Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire and the diagnostic survey method. The obtained data were subjected to statistical analysis.

Results:
Statistically significant differences were observed between the fields of study; they were visible in the domain of initiating relationships (IR) and self-disclosure (SD), with borderline significant values (p = 0.057), and the highest results for nursing students and the lowest for emergency medical services. The students of Emergency Medical Services and Physiotherapy obtained lower results in the self-disclosure domain. The surveyed who saw the value of using elements of elementary psychotherapy in contact with patients more frequently declared a high interest in further training in this area.

Conclusions:
The results obtained in the assessment of interpersonal competences in the studied group indicate the need to conduct educational activities in this area, especially in terms of self-disclosure. The majority of the surveyed are interested in further improvement of skills in elementary psychotherapy, enabling the use of interpersonal competences in the relationship with patients (44.2% defined their need at a high level, and 42.9%, at a medium level).