Evaluation of the attitudes of preclinical and clinical students toward the basic elements of communication in the physician-patient relationship at Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine

Objective: This study aimed to assess the attitudes of preclinical (3rd-year students) and clinical (Interns) students at Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine toward basic communication elements in the physician–patient relationship and to assess the impact of clinical experience on these attitudes.Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted during the 2024–2025 academic year and included 265 medical students. Data from 264 students who completed the questionnaire in full were included in the analysis (3rd-year students n=148; Internsn=116). Data were collected online using a 17-item attitude questionnaire developed by the researchers. Items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale, and the internal consistency coefficient (Cronbach’s α) was .646. The data were analyzed using an independent samples t test, a chi-square test, and a two-way ANOVA. AP value <.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance.Results: The mean overall attitude scores of the students did not differ significantly between the two terms (60.84±7.33 vs 62.36±7.56, P=.101). The interaction between term and sex was significant at the threshold (P=.046). While female 3rd-year students had significantly higher mean scores than male students did (62.26±6.03 vs 59.43±8.24; P=.019), this difference was not observed for interns. Item-based analysis revealed significant differences between terms, particularly regarding the items “During treatment, patients should be given as much information as they wish to know” (P=.043), “I do not give false hope when speaking with a patient with a poor prognosis” (P=.000), “I take a patient’s sexual history without judgment” (P=.000), “I show my emotions when delivering bad news to a patient” (P=.004), and “I listen to everything the patient says without interruption” (P=.007).Conclusion: The findings suggest that communication attitudes are largely comparable between preclinical and clinical students, with no significant overall difference between terms. Although a small interaction between term and sex was observed, its practical significance appears to be limited. These results may indicate that early structured communication training is associated with the development of stable communication attitudes. However, given the cross-sectional design, further longitudinal studies are needed to better understand how communication attitudes evolve throughout medical education and clinical training.