Patients consulting with students in general practice: survey of patients' satisfaction and their role in teaching.

BACKGROUND

General practice is a common setting for medical students' clinical training. However, little is known about patients' views on consulting with senior students.

AIMS

To investigate patients' attitudes to consultations conducted by senior students alone, before patients saw their GP; and to enquire into patients' perception of their teaching role.

METHOD

Adult patients attending 50 health centres in Sweden completed a questionnaire directly after their consultation with a fifth-year medical student and their GP. Results were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively.

RESULTS

The questionnaire was completed by 495 patients, and 92% were satisfied with their consultation. Reasons were personal gain as well as altruism. Almost all patients were prepared to consult with a student again, however in a third of cases conditional on the nature of their presenting complaints. Emotional problems and intimate examinations could cause reluctance. Patients' conception of their teaching role supported previous research: patients as "facilitators of students" development of professional skills and as "experts" or "exemplars" of their condition. An additional theme, patients as "part of a real context", emerged.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients in general practice have a positive view towards consulting with senior students. Even unprepared patients see themselves as contributors to teaching, and their capacity in this respect is probably under-utilized.