Bhubaneswar, Oct 5: A national consultation on clinical communication education has received 152 responses representing 147 medical institutions across 31 Indian states and Union Territories which has highlighted a significant gap between the delivery of communication training and the longitudinal tracking of learner competency.

While 76 per cent of the respondents reported structured communication training across most or all MBBS phases, only 4 per cent reported using an integrated longitudinal record to guide individual learner feedback and progression.

The findings were discussed at the National Advisory Session on Clinical Communication held in New Delhi recently where a Special Interest Group (SIG) on Clinical Communication released a national blueprint after the consultation. The consultation was designed to understand how communication competencies were currently taught, practised, assessed and documented within undergraduate medical education, as well as the practical barriers faced by institutions in implementation of the same.

The consultation was undertaken by the SIG on Clinical Communication in association with the Indian College of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (ICAIM) and DoctorsAI, with SigmaMozak Solutions Private Limited joining as the Knowledge and Implementation Partner.

Odisha has contributed directly to the evidence base behind the initiative through the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, faculty of medicine of SOA Deemed to be University in Bhubaneswar. An undergraduate clinical communication pilot at IMS and SUM Hospital in Bhubaneswar led by Prof. (Dr.) E. Venkata Rao had generated early evidence on the feasibility of structured, technology-enabled communication practice and faculty review, helping inform the wider SIG program and the implementation blueprint.

The findings discussed at the consultation suggested that communication training was no longer absent from undergraduate medical education while it was being delivered across multiple phases of the MBBS program in many institutions. However, the data pointed to a different implementation challenge—ensuring that communication competency developed longitudinally rather than through disconnected teaching and assessment activities.

IMS and SUM Hospital had signed a MoU with SigmaMozak Solutions Private Limited in June last aiming to establish a broad institutional framework for interdisciplinary collaboration in healthcare research and medical education. The area of collaboration encompasses areas like healthcare research, digital health, medical education, communication science, AI-enabled healthcare systems and public health innovation.