Addressing medical students as ’student doctors’ may help quell patient fears

Simple semantics may help quell patient’s fears about taking part in medical education, according to a letter to this week’s BMJ.

Surprisingly, patients tend to accept a trainee’s presence in a consultation if they are addressed as student doctor or trainee doctor, as opposed to medical student, writes Dr Hany George El-Sayeh. This may be because of fears about being seen by a scruffy, disinterested youth who may well later report their intimacies in the bar.

He also recommends introducing a “donor card” system in education, whereby patients attending clinics are warned in advance of a trainee’s potential presence, and the onus is put on them to opt out of the process. Currently patients are usually asked (rather embarrassingly) in clinics if they mind a trainee being present.

Trainees themselves could counter stereotypes by making a greater effort to appear interested, smart, and punctual – all in line with their new “student doctor” status, he concludes.

For further information please contact:

British Medical Association, BMA House
Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9JP
Tel: 0044-20-7383-6254, email: pressoffice@bma.org.uk

Media Contact

Emma Dickinson alfa

More Information:

http://www.bma.org.uk

All latest news from the category: Social Sciences

This area deals with the latest developments in the field of empirical and theoretical research as it relates to the structure and function of institutes and systems, their social interdependence and how such systems interact with individual behavior processes.

innovations-report offers informative reports and articles related to the social sciences field including demographic developments, family and career issues, geriatric research, conflict research, generational studies and criminology research.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Future AR/VR controllers could be the palm of your hand

Carnegie Mellon University’s EgoTouch creates simple interfaces for virtual and augmented reality. The new generation of augmented and virtual reality controllers may not just fit in the palm of your…

‘Game changer’ in lithium extraction

Rice researchers develop novel electrochemical reactor. A team of Rice University researchers led by Lisa Biswal and Haotian Wang has developed an innovative electrochemical reactor to extract lithium from natural…

The blue-green sustainable proteins of seaweed

… may soon be on your plate. The protein in sea lettuce, a type of seaweed, is a promising complement to both meat and other current alternative protein sources. Seaweed…