Patient perspectives program: a humanistic educational experience for medical students

We describe a novel patient-focused program for first-year medical students which is designed to ameliorate the dehumanizing effects frequently produced by the experience of the basic science years. The program, now in its 4th year, offers students the opportunity to meet weekly with a long-term, hospitalized rehabilitation patient. The twin foci of learning are (1) the patient's attitudes, feelings and coping behaviors engendered by the experience of serious illness, hospitalization and treatment; (2) the student's perception of his/her own attitudes and behaviors stimulated by the experience of relating to patients. Students meet weekly with senior hospital staff to discuss their experiences. The program is voluntary, ungraded and entirely under student direction. Speculations are offered for its enthusiastic acceptance and its potential long-term influence on medical students in their development as physicians.