Gynecological patients differ from prenatal patients in appraisals of medical student participation in outpatient clinics

Abstract

Introduction: The participation of students in clinical consultations is essential for their medical education. This experience allows for the acquisition of technical skills and the transmission of ethical and professional values. Objective: To evaluate how differences in outpatient conditions (gynecological or prenatal care), appraisal of previous experience, and sociodemographic profiles influence women’s willingness to accept student participation in their consultations. Methods: We selected 743 cases (45.1% prenatal) with previous experience in student participation of 893 women attending outpatient gynecological (52.6%) or prenatal (47.4%) clinics at Brasilia University Hospital from 2016 to 2019. Scales were adopted for women’s appraisal of student interpersonal communication, willingness to accept, and unwillingness to accept student participation. We used t tests to assess differences, chi-square statistics to compare proportions between outpatient groups, correlations between key variables, and linear regression to estimate variables predicting the willingness outcome. Results: Odds ratios over 1 (p< 0.01) emerged for age older than 35 years, not married, less than higher education, multiparity, discomfort with students, and lower acceptance of gender equality in relation to the Ob-Gyn gender for the gynecological group. Women in the gynecological group offered a better appraisal (from one to five) of interpersonal communication (4.75 vs. 4.43, effect size g= 0.605), showed more willingness (4.58 vs. 4.26, g= 0.625), and conveyed less unwillingness to accept student participation (2.35 vs. 2.47, g= 0.143) than women in the prenatal group. In the linear regression analysis (N= 743), a higher willingness to accept student participation was significantly related (in decreasing impact) to better appraisal of student interpersonal communication (p< 0.001), lower unwillingness (p< 0.001), gynecological group (p< 0.001), tolerance to pelvic examination by a student (p= 0.017), and age older than 35 years (p= 0.016). Conclusions: The experience of supportive interpersonal communication, especially regarding the gynecological group, had a predominant impact on the patient’s willingness to accept the participation of students in consultations. Overall, the willingness to accept this participation differs depending on the patient’s (reason for consultation, lower unwillingness, age) and student’s (communication, gender) factors. Hopefully, the findings can contribute to fostering student-patient partnerships from the perspective of the articulation between service and teaching in medicine.