Affiliations 

  • 1 Centre of Restorative Dentistry Studies, Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sungai Buloh Campus, Jalan Hospital, Sungai Buloh, Malaysia
  • 2 Division of Restorative Dental Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
  • 3 Center of Population Oral Health and Clinical Prevention Studies, Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sungai Buloh, Malaysia
  • 4 Director of Student Affairs and Academic Services, Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Eur J Dent Educ, 2024 Feb;28(1):106-113.
PMID: 37253116 DOI: 10.1111/eje.12925

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The communication skills of clinicians are very crucial in providing better health outcomes for patients. Therefore, this study aimed to assess undergraduate dental students' communication skills in relation to their demographics and clinical setting using a three-perspective approach; the student, the patient and the clinical instructor perspective.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using validated modified-communication tools; Patient Communication Assessment Instruments (PCAI), Student Communication Assessment Instruments (SCAI) and Clinical Communication Assessment Instruments (CCAI) which included four communication domains. One hundred and seventy-six undergraduate clinical year students were recruited in this study whereby each of them was assessed by a clinical instructor and a randomly selected patient in two settings: Dental Health Education (DHE) and Comprehensive Care (CC) clinic.

RESULTS: Comparing the three perspectives, PCAI yielded the highest scores across all domains, followed by SCAI and CCAI (p 

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.