| The general relationship between the physician and the patient is one where communication is used to establish and maintain what will likely become a long-term partnership. Health communication research indicates that physicians, who have apt communication skills in the patient-physician relationship, develop a platform of trust behaviors. The physician communication behaviors perceived to elicit trust reported by patients are; comfort/caring, agency, competence, compassion and honesty. The objective of the research project was to assess patient perceptions of previously determined physician communication behaviors that predict patient trust through individual surveys (N=162) between foreign-born International Medical Graduates and American-born non-IMG resident physicians. Patient perceptions of exhibited communication behaviors between non-IMG and IMGs and trust were found to be significant, with the exception of comfort/caring. A modified Trust Model guided the research, and supported certain prior findings, claiming that effective communication cannot exist in the absence of a solid, trusting physician-patient relationship. |
