BackgroundInformed consent is required for active participation of patients in medical education. At Keele Medical School, we require practices to advertise that they teach undergraduate students and to obtain appropriate patient consent at various stages of the patient journey.AimThe study aimed to explore patients’ experience of consent to involvement in undergraduate medical education in general practice.MethodDuring the final year at Keele University Medical School, students undertake a patient satisfaction survey. A questionnaire was attached to the reverse of this survey during the academic year 2016–2017. The questionnaire explored the stage of the patient journey consent was obtained, whether they were offered an alternative appointment and how comfortable they were with medical students being involved in their care.ResultsA total of 489 questionnaires were completed covering 62 GP practices. 97% of patients reported that consent was obtained at least once during their encounter and the majority reported that this occurred at booking. 98% of patients were comfortable or very comfortable with a medical student leading their consultation. However, 28% of those surveyed stated that they were either not given the option of not seeing the student or there was no other alternative appointment available.ConclusionThe results indicate that in the vast majority of cases patient consent is obtained at least once during their attendance. Patients expressed a high level of satisfaction with medical students’ involvement in their care. Further work is required to evaluate the role of the data as a marker of individual practice teaching quality.
