The effect of giving information in advance on the clinical training of medical students

Abstract

To study whether or not giving written information in advance influences patients' willingness to participate in the clinical training of medical students. Dermatology surgery at a university hospital. Prior to the visit, patients were randomly allocated either to receive a letter about medical education (the experiment group), or not to receive a letter (the control group). The willingness of patients to participate in clinical training. There was no difference between the 2 groups regarding their willingness to participate. Almost all patients perceived the provided information as good or rather good, but some patients, especially in the control group, did not feel free to refuse to participate. The present written-information-in-advance strategy seems to prevent patients from feeling forced to participate, without having any negative influence on their inclination to participate.