A comparison of effective communication skills of resident physicians in internal and surgical medical disciplines

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effective communication skills of resident physicians working in internal and surgical medical sciences, along with the subdimensions of these skills, and to examine their relationship with gender, professional experience, on-call frequency, parental status, communication training history, and clinical stressors. Materials and Methods: Designed as a cross-sectional and descriptive study, the research was conducted with 259 resident physicians working at Manisa Celal Bayar University Faculty of Medicine Hafsa Sultan Hospital. Data were collected between October and December 2023 using a two-part questionnaire: the first part consisted of 17 sociodemographic questions, and the second part included the Turkish version of the Health Professionals Communication Skills Scale (HP-CSS-TR). Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 27.0 with Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis, Chi-square, and Spearman correlation tests. A significance level of p<0.05 was accepted. Results: No statistically significant difference was found between the internal and surgical branches in total communication scores; however, significant differences were observed in the empathy and social skills subdimensions. Female physicians scored significantly higher in empathy than their male colleagues. Although gender distribution was similar across specialties, this difference persisted within the internal medicine group, suggesting that empathy levels may be influenced not only by gender but also by the specific clinical dynamics of the specialty. Participants who had received communication training had significantly higher empathy and respect scores. Parental status positively affected social skills, while more frequent on-call shifts were associated with decreased empathy. Although stressors such as difficult patient interactions and exposure to physical violence negatively impacted certain subdimensions, no statistically significant differences were observed across overall communication skills. Conclusion: The findings suggest that communication skills are shaped not only by individual and educational factors but also by the nature of clinical practice, workload, and contextual dynamics of medical specialties. Therefore, it is recommended that residency training programs incorporate structured, multidimensional, and context-sensitive interventions to promote the development and sustainability of effective communication skills.