title: [Development and evaluation of communication skills learning suitable for community pharmacy].
abstract: It is a prerequisite for community pharmacists to maintain appropriate communication with patients, but a pharmacist licensee usually must learn communication-skills after starting work as a pharmacist. However, an education system and its evaluation methods are expected to be established, since the extent of self-training and rapidity of skill acquisition may vary largely among pharmacists. Therefore in this study we developed a communication-skills education program suitable for community pharmacies, developed objective-structured clinical examination (OSCE) appraisal charts, and carried out that education and its evaluation for a period of 8 months. The appraisal charts created by us were based on items of the "patient-communication station" categorized as one of the six stations in the five areas of pharmacy OSCE. Our questionnaire for pharmacist trainees after receiving communication-skills education/evaluation resulted in responses including such comments as: the education helped to improve their communication-skills; was useful in actual patient consultations; and increased self-confidence in their work. The OSCE scores gradually increased as the trainees completed more courses in the education program. These results show that the education program, which employs an OSCE appraisal chart, leads to specific outcomes in communication skills learning.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Showa University, Hatanodai, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan. t1977n52@yahoo.co.jp
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Megumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Ayuko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amagai
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saotome
authors.forename: Eri
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tomikawa
authors.forename: Kumiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Michiyama
authors.forename: Sumiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Hidekazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sato
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D003479:Curriculum; D004514:Education, Pharmacy, Graduate; D006801:Humans; D010594:Pharmacies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires