Clinical undergraduate examination--voluntary patients' perspective

Real patients are generally recruited to participate in assessment of medical students all over the world in their clinical examinations. In the past, such voluntary patients were taken for granted. However, this is no longer true nowadays.

A questionnaire survey was conducted on 72 patients who participated as volunteers in an undergraduate final MBBS clinical examination. Each patient underwent a total of three to four focused physical examinations, at the conclusion of which the survey was conducted.

The majority of the subjects had little or no previous encounters with medical students. Most volunteers reported to have participated out of a willingness to help. Only a small number did so for financial rewards or more expeditious medical treatment. Positive experiences were reported by 82% of the volunteers and over 90% said they would encourage others to participate similarly. Fatigue is a common complaint which may be due to the long duration of the examination rather than the number of physical examinations performed. Volunteers expected to be better informed about the details of the examination including the numbers of times of physical examination, and the presence of observers.

Printed information given during recruitment, and briefing sessions conducted immediately prior to the examination are recommended to improve patients' satisfaction.