TY - JOUR T1 - Attitudes of medical students toward communication skills learning in Western Saudi Arabia JF - Saudi Medical Journal JO - Saudi Med J SP - 791 LP - 795 DO - 10.15537/smj.2016.7.14331 VL - 37 IS - 7 AU - Fawaz S. Alotaibi AU - Abdullah Alsaeedi Y1 - 2016/07/01 UR - http://smj.org.sa/content/37/7/791.abstract N2 - Objectives: To explore medical students’ attitudes towards communication skills learning in Western Saudi Arabia and to examine impact of socio-demographic variables on the attitudes towards learning these skills.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, sample of medical students were recruited from Taif University, Taif, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the second semester (January-May 2014). Participants were all year 2 (197 students) and year 5 (151 students). The study utilize the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) to measure students’ attitudes toward communication skills learning. The response rate was 93.9%.Results: The study showed that Taif medical students hold highly positive attitudes towards learning communication skills. Positive attitude score (PAS) was significantly higher in level 5 students, older age group.Conclusion: Significant positive attitude toward learning communication skills clearly observed in target group. Students with more positive attitudes towards communication skills learning tended to be higher level and older age. ER -