Using Role Play and Standardised Patients in Pre-clinical Communication Training: Attitudes and perceptions of dental undergraduates

Abstract

The Faculty of Dentistry, National University of Singapore (NUS), introduced a revised communication training programme to develop undergraduates’ competencies in dentist-patient communication. Aim: This study evaluates the programme’s effectiveness in building confidence in communication skills and the attitudes of dental undergraduates towards using role play and standardised patients (SPs) to cultivate communication skills. Methods: Fifty-three second-year undergraduates who attended the programme were invited to complete a self-administered survey questionnaire. Data were entered into SPSS and analysed using descriptive statistics and cross-tabulations with McNemar tests. The level of statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: The survey received a 73.6% response rate. The majority of the respondents (97.4%) appreciated the relevance of communication in clinical practice. They agreed that the programme had imparted effective dentist-patient communication skills to them and rated it with a mean score of 8.5 (SD = 1.0). Only 8 respondents had been confident/somewhat confident of communicating with their patients before attending the programme, while 27 of them reported that they were somewhat confident/very confident after attending the programme (McNemar p < 0.001). Close to 95% of the respondents felt that the SPs portrayed realistic real-life scenarios for them to practise communication. Close to 95% of the respondents also indicated that SPs were more effective than role play with peers in helping them achieve their learning objectives. A third of the respondents suggested an increase in engagement and interaction with SPs to enhance the programme. Key Conclusion: This study sheds light on how similar future programmes can harness a blend of role play and SPs to enhance the communication competencies of newly qualified dental surgeons.