COMPARISON OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS BETWEEN UNDERGRADUATE DENTAL STUDENTS WITH AND WITHOUT PRIOR TRAINING IN EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Abstract

Aim: In the present era of relationship-based care, effective communication between practitioners and patients vastly affects treatment planning and ultimately patient satisfaction.This study compared the communication skills of two groups of final year's undergraduate dental students with and without prior training in effective communication.Methodology: Eighty final year student were asked to participate in the study. Participants were randomly divided into two groups of forty each. One group received training in history taking and effective communication with patients, through a course that spanned across three hours. The remaining forty were not put through the course. Subsequently all the eighty students were asked to examine one patient each and record patient case history. The communication skills of the students were evaluated by the patients in the form of a feedback questionnaire provided to them after the dental examination.Results: The results indicated that students who had received training in communication skills were rated significantly higher than the untrained student in all aspects of communicationConclusion: Proper training improved communication skills significantly among dental students