Abstract
Objectives
Clinical rotations are an important aspect of undergraduate medical education. However, as patient satisfaction scores receive increasing attention, the impact of medical student participation on patient satisfaction and perception of quality of care is unclear. Previous studies from the Emergency Department and outpatient settings show that medical students do not negatively impact satisfaction scores. The authors sought to examine the effect of medical student involvement on patient satisfaction in the Labor and Delivery Triage setting.
Methods
The authors conducted a survey study of a convenience sample of pregnant patients seen in and discharged from Labor and Delivery between January 2015 and April 2016. Surveys addressed questions about the overall satisfaction with the care patients received, as well as other outcome measures such as comfort with asking questions, time spent with a physician, and politeness of staff.
Results
240 total surveys were collected. After excluding surveys from those that were unsure whether a medical student was involved in their care, 168 surveys were used in the final analysis. Of these, 63.7% of subjects reported being seen by a medical student. There was no significant difference (p = 0.76) in overall patient satisfaction between groups.
Conclusions for Practice
Given the lack of a negative impact of medical student involvement on patient satisfaction, medical students should continue to be active members of the healthcare team, including in specialties such as obstetrics and locations such as Labor and Delivery triage with highly sensitive and time-dependent evaluations.
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Funding
Dr. Arora is funded by the Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative of Cleveland, KL2TR0002547 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) component of the National Institutes of Health and NIH roadmap for Medical Research. This manuscript is solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
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Appendix
Appendix
Patient Satisfaction Survey
We would like to know how you felt about your visit today. The following survey is anonymous and optional. We appreciate your feedback and answers to this survey are confidential and will not affect the care provided to you at this, or subsequent visits.
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1.
Was our staff polite and courteous to you?
☐ Significantly less than expected ☐ Slightly less than expected ☐ Slightly more than expected ☐Significantly more than expected
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2.
How long did you have to wait to be seen?
☐ Significantly less than expected ☐ Slightly less than expected ☐ Slightly more than expected ☐Significantly more than expected
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3.
How much time did your doctor spend with you?
☐ Significantly less than expected ☐ Slightly less than expected ☐ Slightly more than expected ☐Significantly more than expected
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4.
Did we explain your care in an understandable manner?
☐ I understood most things ☐ I understood some things ☐ I didn’t understand some things ☐ I did not understand most things
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5.
Did we answer all your questions?
☐ All were answered ☐ Most were answered ☐ Some were not answered ☐ Most were not answered
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6.
Did you feel afraid to ask questions about your care?
☐ Not at all, I was able to ask freely ☐ I asked some questions ☐ I didn’t ask most questions ☐ I did not ask any questions
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7.
Did a medical student see you?
☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ I am not sure
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8.
Did student participation in your care have any impact on your experience?
☐ Very positive ☐ Somewhat positive ☐ Somewhat negative ☐ Very negative ☐ Unsure
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9.
How do you feel about your overall experience at this visit?
☐ Significantly worse than expected ☐ Slightly worse than expected ☐ Slightly better than expected ☐Significantly better than expected
Demographic Questions
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1.
How old are you? ______ years old
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2.
How far along in your pregnancy are you? _____ weeks
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3.
What is the highest level of education you received?
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4.
What race do you identify with?
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Malhotra, T., Thomas, S. & Arora, K.S. Impact of Medical Students on Patient Satisfaction of Pregnant Women in Labor and Delivery Triage. Matern Child Health J 23, 1467–1472 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-019-02771-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-019-02771-y