Patients' attitudes towards participating in clinical skills training purely for teaching purposes

Exposure to real patients with real problems is highly valued by medical students. However, with medical student numbers increasing and opportunities to access real patients in health care facilities declining, alternative arrangements have to be made to provide students with a real patient experience. Currently, medical students in their formative years (Years 1 - 3) at The University of Western Australia are exposed to real patient volunteers during their on-campus clinical skills sessions. However, little is known in relation to patients experiences of being examined by medical students purely for teaching purposes (i.e. in the absence of treatment). 45 patients completed an anonymous survey and 13 patients participated in a focus group regarding their experiences of being examined by medical students during on-campus clinical skills sessions. Generally patients had positive attitudes towards being examined by medical students. These results suggest that utilising patient volunteers for on-campus clinical skills training is a viable option to provide students with exposure to real patients.