Learning professional skills and attitudes : Medical students' attitudes towards communication skills andgroup learning

Abstract: Medical education aims at forming students’ professional identity. This includes skills and attitudes such as communication and teamwork skills. One of the thesis’ aims is to identify students’ typical difficulties with learning communication skills, and to understand how these affect their identity development. Group discussions of student-patient interviews were video-taped, and selected discussions were transcribed and analyzed. Students had difficulties in establishing trustful relationships with their patients, asking about sensitive topics, responding empathetically, and with applying formal structures to the consultation. Students’ professional identity was supported by peer students’ and teachers’ comments, which created a common language and fostered selfmonitoring abilities. Another aim was to study the relationship between students' attitude towards communication training, group learning, and their self-regulatory skills. In a survey study, established instruments were combined with a new questionnaire. Four medical schools participated – two with traditional and two with problem-based curricula – in Sweden and Germany. Statistical analyses revealed that female students were more positive towards learning communication skills than male students were. Good self-regulatory skills were related to a positive attitude towards group learning and clinical experience before academic studies. It was concluded that early clinical experience benefits students’ selfregulated learning, and promotes a positive attitude towards communication training. Awareness of typical difficulties can facilitate the acquisition of coping strategies.