Effects of a teaching mode combining SimBaby with standardized patients on medical students' attitudes toward communication skills

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of a teaching mode combining SimBaby with standardized patients (SP) on medical students' attitudes toward communication skills (CS). MethodsForty 8-year medical program students majoring in clinical medicine were randomly divided into the SimBaby group (n = 20) and the SP + SimBaby group (n = 20). The Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) was used to evaluate medical students' attitudes toward CS learning. ResultsIn the SimBaby and SP + SimBaby groups, there were no statistically significant differences in the Positive Attitude Subscale (PAS) and Negative Attitude Subscale (NAS) scores between males and females (p > 0.05). Compared to the SimBaby group, the SP + SimBaby group showed statistically significant differences in PAS, NAS, and the two dimensions of importance in medical context and learning (p < 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences between groups in the dimensions of excusing and overconfidence (p > 0.05). ConclusionCompared with SimBaby alone, the SP + SimBaby teaching mode can improve medical students' attitude toward CS learning, suggesting that the organic integration of multiple simulation-based medical teaching methods plays an important role in the acquisition of CS.

Automated summary

The teaching mode combining SimBaby with standardized patients can improve medical students' attitudes toward communication skills learning, indicating that the organic integration of multiple simulation-based medical teaching methods plays an important role in the acquisition of communication skills.