Patient as Teacher Symposium

Project Description

Background: Traditionally, in undergraduate medical education, patients assumed a more passive role during clinic-based teaching. Recently, the General Medical Council emphasised the requirement for more active involvement of patients as teachers in undergraduate medical education.

Approach: The Patient as Teacher Symposium provided a unique forum to integrate clinical teaching and patient’s real-life experiences to reinforce learning.

Intended Benefits

Patient outcomes: By encouraging a more active role of patients as teachers in medical education, this might improve patient outcomes further down the line.

Environmental, Financial, Social: The medical students in attendance felt the symposium was very important for their education, rating an average of 9.54 out of 10 for very important. Students found the experience clinically informative and emotionally rewarding. The session also allowed for an understanding of how medicine interacts closely with other allied healthcare professions. Further investigation on environmental and financial impacts of emphasising patients as teachers is needed.

Potential Barriers

Challenges to this project:

• Initial adjustment to changing teaching methods and curriculum for students

Key Aspects of the Project

The project focused on changing how medical students are taught and view patients, amplifying the patient’s role and importance.