Students’ Attitude towards Patient-Centered Care: A Comparative Study between Traditional and Integrated Curriculum

Abstract

Background The patient being the focus of all medical sciences therapy, patient-centered care is found to be more beneficial in improving the efficacy of care. It is now being emphasized that this competency of patient-centered care should be developed at the level of undergraduate. It is hoped that with time and experience medical students may develop this competency as a reflex in their clinical practice. Data about the attitude of medical students towards patient-centered care is variable. As well as comparative data as to which curriculum (i.e. traditional versus integrated) enhances this quality is also insufficient. Objective The objective of this study is to compare the "patient-centered care" attitude of medical students from an integrated versus traditional curriculum. Methods A cross-sectional, comparative study was conducted at Liaquat national hospital and Medical College from June to December 2017. The sampling technique was non-probability convenience sampling. The calculated sample size was 110 participants in each group. Group A had medical students from the final year current batch and passed out batch (traditional curriculum) while Group B had medical students from current fourth and final year (Integrated curriculum). After consent, a validated questionnaire i.e. patient-physician orientation scale (PPOS) was given to students. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 23. Descriptive analysis was done to compute central tendencies and standard deviation and the Students' t-test, was applied. A P-value of 0.05 was considered significant. Results Out of 350 students participating in the study, male and female participants were 29.14% (102/350) and 70.85% (248/350) respectively. The mean age was 21.99 ±1.73. Traditional curricular medical students had significantly better total PPOS scores as compared with integrated curriculum students. Females also had significantly better scores than males (p=0.04). Conclusion Results suggest that an integrated medical curriculum should be reviewed and strategies that promote patient-centered care should be incorporated into all phases of student learning.