Indian Journal of Ophthalmology

LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Year
: 2020  |  Volume : 68  |  Issue : 7  |  Page : 1502--1503

Response to comments on: Development and introduction of a communication skills module for postgraduate students of ophthalmology


Purvi R Bhagat, Kamini M Prajapati, Rupal B Bhatt, Vipul K Prajapati, Rohit Dureja, Gunjan P Tank 
 M and J Western Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, B.J. Medical College and Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

Correspondence Address:
Dr. Purvi R Bhagat
Associate Professor, M and J Western Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, Ahmedabad - 380 016, Gujarat
India




How to cite this article:
Bhagat PR, Prajapati KM, Bhatt RB, Prajapati VK, Dureja R, Tank GP. Response to comments on: Development and introduction of a communication skills module for postgraduate students of ophthalmology.Indian J Ophthalmol 2020;68:1502-1503


How to cite this URL:
Bhagat PR, Prajapati KM, Bhatt RB, Prajapati VK, Dureja R, Tank GP. Response to comments on: Development and introduction of a communication skills module for postgraduate students of ophthalmology. Indian J Ophthalmol [serial online] 2020 [cited 2024 Mar 29 ];68:1502-1503
Available from: https://journals.lww.com/ijo/pages/default.aspx/text.asp?2020/68/7/1502/287561


Full Text



We would like to thank the writer(s) for the interest in the topic, intricately evaluating our article and the comments.[1]

We would like to share that communication skills (CS) training is yet not a global norm for undergraduate as well as postgraduate medical education programs.[2],[3],[4] Further, the CS trainings lack a formal structure with considerable variations in teaching methods as well as assessment.[4],[5]

We do agree that our results are based on the lower levels of Kirkpatrick's model of evaluation. In our own study, the students have expressed their concern that such one-time workshops may not lead to long-term behavioral changes, whereby the necessity of developing a longitudinal communication curriculum becomes evident, which ensures that students' communication competencies are firmly achieved at exit levels.[6],[7] Only very recently, the Medical Council of India has proposed a structured longitudinal program on attitude, ethics, and communication (AETCOM), right from the first professional year of medical training.[4]

Our module, designed for postgraduate students of ophthalmology, to be applicable to other fields and undergraduate students, may surely have to be customized.

Acknowledgment

Dr. Tejinder Singh, Director and Dr. Dinesh Badyal, Co-Director, Christian Medical College, FAIMER Regional Institute, for their inspiration for this projectDr. Shashank Patel, Ex-Director, M and J Western Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, for his support for the projectDr. Chetna Desai, Dr. Shaista Saiyed, and Dr. Parag Chavda for their involvement and guidance in the projectFAIMER faculty, advisors, fellows 2017 and 2018 for their support and valuable suggestionsMy postgraduate students.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

References

1Melamed N, Bhatia V, Poole GO, Ben-David EI. Comments on: Development and introduction of a communication skills module for postgraduate students of ophthalmology. Indian J Ophthalmol 2020;68:1501-2.
2Shahini N, Sanagoo A, Jouybari L. Communication skills and professionalism: The self-assessment of Golestan University of Medical Sciences' students. Future Med Educ J 2012;2:3-6.
3Sahu PK, Chattu VK, Rewatkar A, Sakhamuri S. Best practices to impart clinical skills during preclinical years of medical curriculum. J Educ Health Promot 2019;8:57.
4Available from: https://www.mciindia.org/CMS/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/AETCOM_book.pdf. [Last accessed on 2020 Feb 27].
5Loureiroa E, Ferreiraa MA, Frestab M, Ismail M, Rehman SU, Broome M. Teaching and assessment of clinical communication skills: Lessons learned from a SWOT analysis of Portuguese Angolan and Mozambican Medical Education. Porto Biomed J 2017;2:47-58.
6Bhagat PR, Prajapati KM, Bhatt RB, Prajapati VK, Dureja R, Tank GP. Development and introduction of a communication skills module for postgraduate students of ophthalmology. Indian J Ophthalmol 2019;67:1810-5.
7Bachmann C, Roschlaub S, Harendza S, Keim R, Scherer M. Medical students' communication skills in clinical education: Results from a cohort study. Patient Educ Couns 2017;100:1874-81.