An evaluation of the cost designing, delivering and assessing an undergraduate communication skills module

Communication skills courses are considered expensive to run in terms of time, human resource and finance. This paper reports on the financial cost of designing, delivering and assessing a communication skills module delivered to fifth-year medical students. Costs are classified into three categories: personnel, standardized patients and administrative. The total cost attributable to the design and delivery of the Communication Skills Module was €8987, comprising €7900 personnel costs, €960 standardized patient costs and €127 administrative costs. The total cost for assessing communication skills by an OSCE was €7223. This comprised €5309 personnel costs, €1600 standardized patient costs and €314 administrative costs. As communication skills are often taught by smaller faculty departments, such as that of general practice, justification of financial outlay is crucial. As doctor-patient communication is a generic skill, consideration needs to be given to reducing the burden of cost borne by the individual department providing the teaching.