Satisfaction with clinical encounters among residents and geriatric patients.

A total of 69 clinical encounters between 15 internal medicine residents and 69 geriatric patients were examined to determine the residents' attitudes toward specific patients and to assess their mutual satisfaction with the clinical encounter. The residents rated their attitudes toward each patient and indicated their beliefs about the patients' health status, adjustment to medical care, and expected benefits of health education activities. In general, both the residents and the patients expressed satisfaction with their clinical encounters. Little similarity in the satisfaction ratings of the residents and patients was found. The patients tended to express higher levels of satisfaction than the residents. The residents' perceptions of the expected benefits of health education and attitudes toward the patient were found to be statistically significant predictors of the residents' satisfaction. These findings suggest that specific attitudes and beliefs of residents toward their geriatric patients are linked to the residents' satisfaction and hold important implications for medical training.