title: Attitudes of Portuguese medical residents' towards clinical communication skills.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the attitudes and perceptions of Portuguese residents towards Clinical Communication Skills (CCS) and the need for complementary training.
  
  
  METHODS
  78 medical residents responded to an on-line questionnaire which comprised demographic data, open-ended questions and a Portuguese version of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Residents gave significantly higher scores (P<0.001) on CSAS1 (attitudes towards communication skills in general, compared to CSAS2 (attitudes towards the teaching/learning process of CCS). Residents doing their residency training in other parts of the country, other than the north, reveal a higher perception of insufficient training (72.7% vs. 38.7%, P=0.036).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Residents showed more positive attitudes towards communication skills than towards the teaching/learning process. They admit to need more training in CCS in their residency year and highlight that the clinical cycle of undergraduate education should integrate these topics. Content analysis indicates that residents' perceptions are context-influenced.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Integration of CCS in the undergraduate education, enhanced during post-graduate training. Training of clinical faculty and supervisors/tutors and the role that stakeholders have to play in order to promote continuous training in CCS; encourage patient-centeredness and reflective practice, as to facilitate transfer of acquired skills to clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Education and Simulation, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: emfl@med.up.pt.
authors.forename: Elizabete
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Loureiro
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Education and Simulation, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Milton
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Severo
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Education and Simulation, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria Amélia
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ferreira
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003142:Communication; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010820:Physicians; D011174:Portugal; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Attitudes; Communication skills; Medical residents