Effect of an interventional training programme on communication skills for first-year medical students at Suez University, Egypt

Background
Communication is a taught skill that improves clinical practice. Some of the basic competencies that must be taught in a medical curriculum are interpersonal and communication skills according to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Objectives
This study was conducted to design, implement and evaluate the effect of an interventional programme on first-year medical students’ communication skills.

Material and methods
This was a pre-post interventional study. The study sample was 109 first-year medical students who attended the field training course in four family medicine units/centres affiliated with the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population in the Suez governorate. The current study aimed to measure their communication skills before and after the implementation of the interventional programme by using a pre-post observation checklist from December 2019 to June 2021.

Results
The study found that the post-intervention median total communication skills score was significantly higher than the pre-intervention median total score (30.0 (IQR: 28–32) vs 13.50 (IQR: 11–15)), with significant improvements in all items after the intervention. There was a statistically significant relationship between the percent change in the total Liverpool Communication Skills Assessment Scale and participants’ residence and social participation.

Conclusions
The interventional programme improved communication skills among the study sample of first-year medical students after implementation. Communication among medical students needs to be improved in the faculty curriculum.