Learning to Listen: Mixed-Methods Study of Medical Students’ Perspectives on Communication Training

Background Communication skills and empathy are core competencies in medical practice, yet their effective integration into medical curricula remains inconsistent. While experiential workshops are increasingly implemented, evidence regarding their specific impact and alignment with students’ needs is mixed. Exploring students’ perspectives alongside quantitative outcomes may provide valuable insight into how such training is experienced and how it can be optimized. Objectives This study aimed to examine medical students’ experiences and perceptions of a compulsory communication skills workshop delivered within a medical psychology course, and to assess changes in self-perceived communication competence, empathy, and self-reflection through a mixed-methods approach. Methods A convergent exploratory mixed-methods design was employed. The quantitative component followed a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design with a wait-list control group. Second-year medical students (N = 142) completed self-report measures of communication competence (SPCC; PPCCS), empathy (EAS), and self-reflection (SRIS) before the workshop and four weeks later. Nonparametric repeated-measures ANOVA was used to examine time, group, and interaction effects. Qualitative data were obtained through a focus group interview with twelve participants and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results Quantitative analyses revealed small improvements over time in self-perceived communication competence, empathy, and self-reflection in both groups. A significant group × time interaction was observed only for overall physician-patient communication competence (PPCCS Total), indicating a greater increase in the experimental group. All effect sizes were small. Qualitative findings provided contextual depth, identifying two overarching themes: perceived effects and unmet needs. Students highlighted enhanced awareness of diverse perspectives, personal boundaries, and communication as a teachable professional skill, as well as strong engagement with practice-based learning methods. At the same time, they reported unmet needs related to earlier and more continuous integration of communication training, inconsistent role modeling during clinical placements, and insufficient preparation for interprofessional teamwork. Conclusions A brief experiential communication workshop embedded in a compulsory medical psychology course was associated with small short-term increases in self-perceived physician–patient communication competence, while changes in empathy and self-reflection were comparable in the intervention and wait-list control groups. Students’ narratives underscored the educational value of experiential learning while revealing structural gaps in curriculum timing, role modeling, and team-based communication training. These findings support the need for longitudinal, clinically aligned communication curricula that integrate experiential methods, structured reflection, and consistent empathic role modeling across medical education.