Evaluation of Clinical Communication Skills in Dental Students with Objective Structured Clinical Examination

Aims: Clinical communication is an essential skill for dental students. One of the best methods for evaluating medical students’ achievement and their clinical skills is the Objective Structured Clinical Examination. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical communication skills of dental students of Yasuj University of Medical Sciences based on the Objective Structured Clinical Examination. Instrument Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 51 students of the School of Dentistry of Yasuj University of Medical Sciences in 2019. Students of the general dental course were selected by the census sampling method. Students were invited through an announcement. The students’ clinical communication skills were evaluated using Objective Structured Clinical Examination that in each station were one standardized patient. Students’ clinical communication skills were evaluated by four assessors, according to a checklist whose validity had been verified. Collected data entered SPSS software version 24 and analyzed using Pearson correlation and independent t-test. Findings: The mean score and standard deviation of the clinical communication skills of dental students were 1.97±0.38, which indicates that the clinical communication skills of students are at a medium level. The findings showed that there was a significant relationship between clinical communication skills and gender (p≤0.05), and women have better patient-centered skills. The results also showed that communication skills were not associated with average academic grades (p 0.05). Conclusion: Students’ clinical communication skills are not at the desired level.