Satisfaction with the quality of outpatient care of medical students as an element of the assessment of the current system of medical care

Abstract

Introduction. This article discusses the problems of the quality of outpatient care for medical students. Most of the students prefer not to seek medical help from specialists even in difficult situations, and in most cases they self-medicate. This is caused by an insufficient degree of quality service by the outpatient polyclinic service of the attached contingent. The existing state system of medical care is imperfect: there is no unified approach to the organization of student polyclinics; medical organizations do not take into account the age and social specifics of students; low continuity in the rehabilitation and treatment of patients; there is insufficient preventive work among students.Aim: To determine the level of satisfaction with the quality of medical services provided to medical students.Material and Methods. The sociological method included a survey of medical students (1026 respondents) according to a specially designed questionnaire that contained questions about the scope, nature, quality of work and satisfaction with the conditions of the polyclinic institution. The logistic method consisted in the analysis of personnel, resource provision, as well as the activities of the medical institution.Results. Most of the medical students encounter organizational obstacles (appointment, waiting lists at the registry, waiting lists at the day hospital, waiting lists at the reception, etc.). 38.0% of respondents noted that when health problems appear, it is easier for them to go to the medical office of the college than to the district doctor. Moreover, 64.3% of respondents do not have information about the district doctor. Satisfaction depends on a number of factors such as: waiting time for a doctor’s appointment at the office (p < 0.001), availability when making an appointment with a doctor at a polyclinic (p < 0.001), preference when contacting a doctor when health problems appear (p < 0.001), the presence of organizational difficulties to get an appointment or treatment in a polyclinic (p < 0.001), the location of the registry and specialist offices, the terminal for making an appointment (p < 0.001), as well as the conditions of stay in a medical facility (p < 0.001).Conclusion. The necessity of introducing feedback into the practice of working with a contingent of medical students, using available screening technologies to actively identify the most significant factors and risk groups of the most common pathology, taking measures to reduce the impact of controlled factors, as well as annual preventive examinations and medical examinations has been identified.