Professional Communication Skills among House Job Interns in Public Sector Teaching Hospital of Karachi

Abstract

Background: In hospital, doctors have to deal with emergencies and challenging situations. Effective communication often empowers them to manage those situations tactfully. Hence it is very important to assess the professional communication skills of young doctors of the public sector teaching hospitals.

Objective: To determine the quality of professional communication skills and their relation with clinical departments among the house job interns of public sector teaching hospital.

Study type, settings & duration: This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in Dr. Ruth K.M. Pfau Civil Hospital, Karachi during one month from 1^st to 30^th March 2021.  

Methodology: This study of one month duration was conducted on 108 house job interns who had completed their one year house job at Dr. Ruth K.M. Pfau Civil Hospital, Karachi in various clinical departments including General medicine, Surgery, Psychiatry and Gynecology.  A self-administered, validated questionnaire, Health professional communication skills scale (HP-CSS) was used to assess the quality of communication skills of house job interns. After taking informed consent an equal number of male and female interns were enrolled to assess their communication skills.

Results: The mean age of 108 study participants was 24.6±0.9 years. Overall their mean communication skills score on HP-CSS was 83.98±10.27.These scores in relation to General medicine and surgery, Psychiatry and Gynecology-Obstetrics departments were 83.7 (77.5%), 87.2 (80.7%) and 79.1 (73%) respectively. .........