Objective To improve doctor-patient communication skills by investigating and analyzing the influencing factors of doctor-patient communication skills of breast surgery students.
Methods A total of 118 clinical practice medical students in department of breast surgery of the first affiliated hospital of Bengbu medical college were investigated by self-designed questionnaire on factors influencing doctor-patient communication skills of medical students and methods to improve doctor-patient communication skills.
Results A total of 118 questionnaires were distributed and 118 were recovered. The effective recovery rate was 100%. Among factors that affect doctor-patient communication, 90.7% medical students thought that professional knowledge was important, 89.0% thought communication ability was important, 86.4% thought that psychological factors was important, 84.7% thought that clinical experience was important, 83.0% thought confidence was important, 79.3% believed that language popularity was important, 74.5% thought that patients and patients families factors were important, 66.9% thought clinical work was important, 61.9% of medical students lacked awareness of the importance of communication, 37.3% thought communication attitude was important, and only 22.0% thought the humanities knowledge was important. The methods of improving doctor-patient communication skills were clinical teaching (92.6%), special lecture doctor-patient communication skills training (85.1%), doctor-patient communication skills theory course (82.3%), standardized patient (81.9%), and improving diagnosis and treatment level (80.7%) according to the support rate. The most effective method for improvement was clinical teaching.
Conclusion Medical students generally believed that there were many factors influencing doctor-patient communication skills in department of breast surgery, but most medical students lacked the awareness of the importance of doctor-patient communication, and few people realized the importance of humanistic knowledge and communication attitude, so it was necessary to strengthen the awareness and ability cultivation of the above three aspects in medical students.