Characteristics of the communication skills of department of physical therapy students in a technical school during practical trainings

Abstract

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to clarify what kinds of communication skills students of a technical school gained experience in during practical training at hospitals. [Subjects] The subjects were 102 students of K technical school of physical therapy. [Methods] We carried out a questionnaire survey in comment form about successful factors and unsuccessful factors in communicatation with patients, and the points of improvement in communication skills. The analysis used Burnard's content analysis. [Results] The successful factors were classified as: the attitudes of students themselves who were senders, the situations of the patients who were receivers, the topics of conversation, the manner of speaking of the students who were senders, non-verbal communication skills and spending time together. [Conclusions] The students gained experience in the communication skills necessary for physical therapists, such as consideration, actions, and attitudes. The results provide material on how to support students' communication skills.