Development and evaluation of a communication-skills learning suitable for community pharmacy

Abstract

It is a prerequisite for community pharmacists to maintain appropriate communication with patients, but a pharmacist licensee usually must learn communication-skills after starting work as a pharmacist. However, an education system and its evaluation methods are expected to be established, since the extent of self-training and rapidity of skill acquisition may vary largely among pharmacists. Therefore in this study we developed a communication-skills education program suitable for community pharmacies, developed objective-structured clinical examination (OSCE) appraisal charts, and carried out that education and its evaluation for a period of 8 months. The appraisal charts created by us were based on items of the "patient-communication station" categorized as one of the six stations in the five areas of pharmacy OSCE. Our questionnaire for pharmacist trainees after receiving communication-skills education/evaluation resulted in responses including such comments as: the education helped to improve their communication-skills; was useful in actual patient consultations; and increased self-confidence in their work. The OSCE scores gradually increased as the trainees completed more courses in the education program. These results show that the education program, which employs an OSCE appraisal chart, leads to specific outcomes in communication skills learning. © 2008 The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan.