Teaching and assessment of communication skills in undergraduate dental education - a survey in German-speaking countries.

INTRODUCTION: Teaching communication is perceived to be of importance in dental education. Several reports have been published worldwide in the educational literature describing modifications of the dental curriculum by implementing the teaching of communication skills. Surveys which evaluate the current state of training and assessment of communication skills in dental education in different countries exist already in some countries, but little information is available about German-speaking countries.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: In a cross-sectional study with the aim of a census, all 36 dental schools in Germany (30), Austria (3), and Switzerland (3) were surveyed.

RESULTS: The present survey revealed that at 26 of the 34 dental schools (76%), communication skills training has been implemented. Training of communication skills mainly takes place between the 6th and the 9th semester. Ten schools were able to implement a partly longitudinal curriculum, while the other sites only offer stand-alone courses. Of the 34 dental schools, six assess communication skills in a summative way. Three of those schools also use formative assessments for their students. Another seven sites only use formative assessment. From the various formats of assessment, OSCE is mentioned most frequently.

CONCLUSION: The necessity to train and assess communication skills has reached German-speaking dental schools. The present survey allows an overview of the training and assessment of communication skills in undergraduate dental education in German-speaking Europe.