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Evaluating medical students' non‐verbal communication during the objective structured clinical examination
Author(s) -
Ishikawa Hirono,
Hashimoto Hideki,
Kinoshita Makoto,
Fujimori Shin,
Shimizu Teruo,
Yano Eiji
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
medical education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.776
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1365-2923
pISSN - 0308-0110
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2929.2006.02628.x
Subject(s) - active listening , psychology , objective structured clinical examination , nonverbal communication , content analysis , meaning (existential) , quality (philosophy) , medical education , perception , medicine , developmental psychology , communication , psychiatry , social science , philosophy , epistemology , neuroscience , sociology , psychotherapist
Objectives Non‐verbal communication (NVC) in medical encounters is an important method of exchanging information on emotional status and contextualising the meaning of verbal communication. This study aimed to assess the impact of medical students' NVC on interview evaluations by standardised patients (SPs). Methods A total of 89 medical interviews in an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) for post‐clerkship medical students were analysed. All interviews were videotaped and evaluated on 10 non‐verbal behaviour items. In addition, the quality of the interview content was rated by medical faculty on 5 items and the interview was rated by SPs on 5 items. The relationships between student NVC and SP evaluation were examined by multivariate regression analyses controlling for the quality of the interview content. Results Standardised patients were likely to give higher ratings when students faced them directly, used facilitative nodding when listening to their talk, looked at them equally when talking and listening, and spoke at a similar speed and voice volume to them. These effects of NVC remained significant after controlling for the quality of the interview content. Conclusions This study provided evidence of specific non‐verbal behaviours of doctors that may have additional impacts on the patient's perception of his or her visit, independently of the interview content. Education in basic NVC should be incorporated into medical education alongside verbal communication.