Patient and preceptor attitudes towards teaching medical students in General Practice

BMC Medical Education

Manfred Maier¹  Andree Wilhelm-Mitteräcker¹  Wolfgang Spiegel¹  Hans Tönies¹  Otto Pichlhöfer¹ 

[1] Department of General Practice and Family Medicine, Medical University Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15, Vienna, A-1090, Austria

关键词: Medical student;    ‘Doctor-patient relationship’;    Physician patient relationship;    Professional ethics;    Teaching;    Preceptorship;   

Others  :  1138891
DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6920-13-83

 received in 2012-12-16, accepted in 2013-05-29,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

Curricula in most western medical universities include teaching in the primary care setting as core elements. This affects GP-teachers, their patients and their interaction. Therefore, it was the aim of this study to assess the influence of the presence of medical students in the teaching practice on the attitudes of both GPs and patients.

Methods

Seventy-four GP-preceptors were invited to answer an online survey. Patients attending consultations with a medical student present completed questionnaires either before the consultation (WR group) or immediately after consultation (AC group).

Results

Fifty- nine preceptors completed the online survey. Physicians showed positive attitudes towards their activities as preceptors: 95% expressed a positive attitude predominantly towards being a role model and to represent the discipline and for 64% remuneration was not important. In 28 practices 508 questionnaires were completed by patients in the WR-group and 346 by the AC-group. Only 12% (WR) and 7.2% (AC) of patients expressed a preference for being seen by the doctor alone. While 16% of doctors rated that confidentiality of the doctor-patient relationship is compromised, only 4.1% (WR) and 1.7% (AC) of patients felt so.

Conclusion

The motivation to be a preceptor is primarily driven by personal and professional values and not by economic incentives. Further, patients have even more positive attitudes than the preceptors towards the presence of students during their consultation. Reservations to teaching students in GP-practices are, therefore, unwarranted.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Pichlhöfer et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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