ARTICLE ORIGINAL/ORIGINALARTICLE FOCUS GROUPS FINDINGS REVEAL BARRIERS TO TEACHING COMMUNICATION SKILLS TO MEDICAL STUDENTS

Numerous studies have confirmed the importance of com-munication between the physician and the patient [1-4]. Medical students ’ attitudes towards doctor-patient com-munication have for long been a concern among medical teachers, curriculum planners and policy makers [5-6]. Medical schools in the United States of America gen-erally teach communication skills (CS) during the first or second medical year. In 1978, 35 % of schools had a for-mal preclinical curriculum in communication skills, and by 1993 this increased to 65 % [7]. This preclinical curric-ular approach provides limited reinforcement and training during the clinical years; a long-standing concern sup-ported by the early findings of a decline in communication skills during that crucial training [8]. The American University of Beirut (AUB) is a private-ly funded institution with a traditional ‘2 + 2 ’ four-year curriculum on the American model. In December 2002