A novel multi-measure approach to study medical students’ communication performance and predictors of their communication quality - a cross-sectional study

We found that non-verbal parameters significantly differed between students of early vs. later stages of their medical training and were predictive of communication quality. Especially, sympathetic responsiveness - likely indicating the level of involvement - correlated with expert evaluations. These findings suggest that effective communication becomes evident across different channels and that sincere engagement into a conversation might be a requisite for successful doctor-patient communication.