Patients' experiences and perceptions of medical student candidates sitting a finals examination

The Final Professional Examination for medical students at Leicester Medical School involves the use of real patients, and senior clinicians assess students over a series of consultations with these patients. What the patients themselves think of the students is not known.

This qualitative study identifies the perceptions and opinions which patients who have been used in this examination have of the student candidates, and whether these may be used to enhance the training of medical students.

Patients who had participated in a number of examination diets were interviewed in either a group interview or individually. The interviews were loosely structured in order to discover the experiences that these patients had and how they interpreted them. Data was analysed inductively using the constant comparative method.

The large majority of views of patients fell into the following categories: observations on student conduct during the examination (both in terms of affective and professional behaviours), demographic characteristics of students and views on student performance.

Based on the results of this study, educational recommendations are made which might improve student performance in the examination and lead to greater patient satisfaction with the 'end product' of the medical school, namely the graduating student. These include the incorporation of students' observation of infection control measures within the assessment schedule, and more direct preparation of students in handling uncertainty and their anxieties within the consultation.