Comparing self-reported communication skills of medical students in traditional and integrated curricula:: A nationwide study

Objectives: To investigate medical students' self-assessments of their communication skills through medical school related to background factors, curriculum design and perceived medical school stress. Methods: Medical students at all year levels attending Norwegian universities in the spring of 2003 were mailed the Oslo Inventory of Self-reported Communication Skills (OSISCS) developed by the authors. Of the total number of students (N = 3055), 60% responded. One school had a traditional curriculum, the other three ran integrated models. Results: Students assessed their instrumental communication skills to increase linearly year by year, while the relational skills showed a curve-linear trajectory reaching the optimum level half-way into the curriculum. Students attending the traditional school reported lower levels of instrumental skills compared to the students from the integrated schools. In relational skills, a similar difference was maintained halfway into the curriculum, but disappeared towards the end. Perceived medical school stress correlated to the self-reported end point levels of the two types of communication skills. Discussion: The trajectories of self-reported instrumental and relational skills indicate significant variations in facilitating mechanisms between curricula, cognitive processing and perceived medical school stress. Conclusions: Self-reported instrumental and relational communication skills develop differently in medical students over the years according to the type of curriculum. Practice implications: Curricula should be evaluated for improvement implementations. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.