Interactions with patients in the early phases of clinical training: medical students' perceptions

Abstract

Twelve undergraduate medical students from the University of Adelaide were interviewed as part of an exploratory qualitative study, with the aim of gaining an insight into their perceptions of initial encounters with patients in a clinical attachment. The students were randomly selected and were asked to talk about their experiences with patients and supervising clinicians. The transcribed interviews were analysed using framework analysis. Through this method, five major themes were identified; confidence levels, rewarding experiences, negative experiences, preparation and leaning to behave in the same way as clinical role models, which the students themselves referred to as 'conditioning'. Exploration of these themes demonstrated that the students' level of confidence directly related to whether they perceived a need to desensitise to the clinical setting. Recommendations are made to address the issues of student confidence and 'conditioning', although further, more comprehensive research is required.