The Effect of Communication Skill Training on Clinical Skill of Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease Residents of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences

Background and purpose: Clinical competence has four essential components: knowledge , physical exam , problem solving and communication skill .The communication skill isn’t an optional extra inmedical training but it is a core clinical skill. This study is performed in order to determine whether communication skill training for Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease residents improves their clinical competence.Methods: This study was performed in 2004-2005 in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Thirteen internal Medicine and Infectious Disease residents were involved in this study. We had 8 residents in group one and 5 residents in group two. Group one first participated in communication skill workshop and then their clinical skill was evaluated with objective structured clinical examination (OSCE1).Group two’s clinical skill was first evaluated with OSCE 1 and then after participating in communication skill workshop again their clinical skill was evaluated by OSCE 2.The scores of group one in OSCE1 after participation in communication skill workshop were compared to group two in OSCE1 before the workshop. The scores of group two before the communication skill workshop (OSCE1)and after the workshop (OSCE2) were compared. Also the scores of group one after the workshop(OSCE1) and group two after the workshop(OSCE2) were compared.Results: Group one after the communication skill workshop had significantly higher scores in clinical skill compared to group two before the workshop. Group two had significantly higher clinical skillscores after the communication skill workshop compared to the clinical skill scores of the same group before the workshop.Conclusion: Communication skill workshop significantly improved the clinical skill of Internal medicine and Infectious disease residents.