Communication Skill Training Levels among Critical Care Doctors in India

Abstract

Medical training programs outline the necessity of communication skills but there is likely a dearth of teaching at the bedside in part due to prioritization of other skills over communication or due to lack of opportunity. In India, the majority of critical care units are open in nature, and communication lead is likely to be taken by the primary specialty rather than the critical care doctors themselves. In the majority of the cases, the root cause analysis shows a lack of clear communication as a barrier. The sicker the patient, the higher the chance for anxiety and miscommunication among healthcare professionals as well as the family. The current project aims to find the training levels in Indian critical care settings and draw conclusions to see if there are avenues to improve the process. This study was based on a web-based questionnaire that was sent out to 1,000 critical care doctors across India. Educational experience and learning of communication techniques/concepts were assessed using a modified educational experience and attitudes questionnaire. Baseline demographic data were obtained and results were tabulated across 193 complete responses, which consistently showed a disparity in perceived levels of competence across different mandatory aspects of communication. Further, we find that though communication is a trainable skill, the mode of training has been largely reactive and has remained so for the last 20 years hinting at poor training in communication. Our survey suggests an urgent need for improvement of the training processes to reduce the burden of ethical, clinical, and legal dilemmas in critical care.