Consent and confidentiality in teaching in general practice: survey of patients' views on presence of students

摘要

Medical schools are expanding their teaching in general practices, but there are few studies on patients' responses to the presence of medical students at consultations with general practitioners. In 1974 Wright reported that up to 40% of patients in one practice preferred not to discuss personal anxieties, family problems, or sexual problems in the presence of a student. Seabrook and Evans discussed general practice teaching with patients and carers. Patients expressed concern about whether they would be given a choice about a student being present and reported bad experiences of hospital teaching. Most recently, Cooke et al concluded from a questionnaire survey that only 3% of patients had negative views about the presence of a student. We report patients' views about consent and confidentiality using a questionnaire developed from semistructured interviews.