Medical education by bedside learning – helping medical students to interact with patients who have head and neck cancer

Abstract

Conclusion. Our bedside interviews with patients with head neck cancer are unique and valuable educational experiences for undergraduate medical students. Objective. How can we help medical students to understand patients’ thoughts and feelings? We believe that students can learn and practice empathy at the patient's bedside. Subjects and methods. Sixty medical students in their final year at the University of Tokyo and 10 patients with head and neck cancer were supervised by a professor and senior head and neck surgeons. Questionnaires were delivered to each student before and after bedside teaching, to investigate their impressions on thoughts and feelings of patients with head and neck cancer. Questions to patients were composed of: 1) backgrounds: birthplace, education, occupation and hobby; 2) cancer: the time of the first visit to clinic and the time of referral to the University of Tokyo Hospital; 3) preoperative feelings; 4) impression of surgical treatment and postoperative care; and 5) messages to medical students from the patient. Medical students also asked additional questions. Results. Before the bedside teaching our medical students believed that it must be important to listen to patients (100%); and that it must be possible to encourage patients (50%). After the bedside teaching they noticed that a medical interview could have a positive influence on the patient (93%), probably because of general conversation (45%), the patient's personality (50%), listening to information about the patient's birthplace, education, occupation and hobby (48%), and the instructor's life experiences (25%). Most patients asked medical students to be good doctors who can understand their thoughts and feelings.