Patient-centred attitudes among medical students: Gender and work experience in health care make a difference

• Abstract Background: Previous studies of medical students’ patient-centred attitudes show a decline across undergraduate education and overall higher scores for female students. Aims: To assess undergraduate students’ patient-centred attitudes at various stages of education and to explore possible associations between attitudes and age, gender and work experience in health care. Methods: In autumn 2005, medical students in Gothenburg (n=797) were asked to answer Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS), a validated instrument exploring attitudes towards the doctor-patient relationship. Data including gender, age, current term and students’ work experience in health care were collected. Results: Six hundred students of 797 (75%) answered the questionnaire. No decrease of students’ PPOS score across the curriculum was observed. PPOS scores from female students were higher compared to males (p<0.0001) and female scores were significantly higher in the later terms compared with earlier (p=0.0011). Female students had more experience from working in health care (p=0.0023). Extended work experience was associated with higher PPOS only among females (p=0.0031). Conclusions: No decline of students’ patient-centred attitudes may indicate an ongoing shift. Gender differences in patient-centred attitudes were reproduced. Work experience in health care presents a new gender difference. These gender differences should be considered when training patient-centred attitudes and skills.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Lärande (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Learning (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

medical education

curriculum evaluation

patient-centred attitudes

professionalism

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

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