Abstract
Purpose::
Good patient knowledge of physician responsibilities and training is important for effective communication and a strong doctor-patient relationship. Previous studies show that there is poor patient knowledge of physician training in teaching hospitals. This could be negatively impacting patient compliance, malpractice rates, and general satisfaction with their care. This study endeavors to determine how well our patients know the hierarchy of a teaching hospital, what factors influence their knowledge, its distribution across three different patient populations, and how our patients feel about their role in training physicians.
Methods::
Cross-sectional survey in three Ophthalmology clinics at the Detroit Medical Center, in July 2006. Demographics, number of clinic visits, and objective questions about the training and responsibilities of medical students, residents, and attending doctors were asked, as well as subjective questions about patient comfort with being treated by physicians in training. Objective Score was correlated with subjective Comfort Score and demographics using ANOVA analysis.
Results::
A total of 312 surveys were completed. 56% of questions were answered correctly. Higher education was the most significant factor for increased Score on the objective portion (p < 0.0001). Patients have a higher subjective Comfort Score, and accordingly are significantly more comfortable with physicians in training (residents), if they score higher on the objective section (p = 0.001). This relationship is independent of education in high school educated participants. Clinic site (p = 0.03), presence of higher education (p = 0.04), and number of visits (p = 0.02) are also significant factors for increased comfort with physicians in training.
Conclusions::
Patients have poor knowledge of the training and hierarchy of medical students, residents and attending doctors. Increased patient knowledge is the most significant factor for increased patient comfort with treatment by physicians in training. Number of visits, clinic site and higher education are also significant factors for comfort with treatment by physicians in training.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: health care delivery/economics/manpower • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: treatment/prevention assessment/controlled clinical trials • learning