Teaching medical students the effects of values and stereotyping on the doctor/patient relationship

As part of an introductory course on the doctor/patient relationship, a teaching unit was designed which emphasized to students that values, biases and prejudices may affect their behaviors when interacting with patients. The unit included lectures on values, specific readings and a survey component which challenged students' value systems and provided them with the opportunity for exploration of hidden biases and prejudices. The survey component involved a series of trigger vignettes depicting five patients interacting with the same (actor) physician. On a rating instrument, students were asked to rate each patient on ten positive and ten negative characteristics, identify the characteristic which best described each patient and select the patient they would most like to treat. The survey was administered to an incoming class of medical students at the orientation session to a course on the doctor/patient relationship. Students were asked to keep a copy of their ratings and bring it to the small group discussion session on physician values. The data were collected, and a class composite developed and submitted to the course instructors prior to the discussion and processing sessions on values. Specific instructions on how to utilize the materials were provided. The class composite, which revealed that students have biases, served as a focus for discussion and facilitated students awareness that unconscious stereotypes exist in their value systems. This teaching approach provided students with a beginning insight that biases and prejudices affect the doctor/patient relationship and the quality of care patients receive.