Initial assessment of communication skills of intern doctors in history-taking

AbstractAs in many other countries, in Bangladesh there is an increasing public dissatisfaction with the medical profession. In the observation of the researcher, this dissatisfaction is not due to the lack of clinical competence but due to problems of communication. A qualitative survey was done to find out the extent to which the intern doctors display communication skills. The study was conducted among 25 intern doctors of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, Bangladesh by using three sets of research instruments. The results indicated that intern doctors were very poor in communicating with their patients during history-taking. The major incompetences observed in communication skills during history-taking were: exploring patients' psychosocial concerns, providing empathy, discussing patients' personal issues and beginning and ending…