Objective: To investigate of the perspectives of ophthalmology patients involved in clinical teaching.
Methods: In all, 26 patients attending a revision course for postgraduate Membership of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists examination were recruited. Every patient was examined by each of 36 residents who were present on this course making a total of 936 clinical examinations. Patient perspectives on their experience were investigated using a questionnaire. Four domains were investigated: interpersonal aspects, information exchange, discomfort, and overall perceptions.
Results: Four different examinations were carried out: neurological, orthoptic and slit-lamp examination of the anterior or posterior segment. The overwhelming proportion of patients learned much about their condition and felt that their contribution towards the training was valuable. Patients found the experience to be positive and satisfying, and all of the patients expressed a desire to reattend. No significant difference in patient discomfort (P=0.36) or perceptions of rough handling by doctors (P=0.62) between patients undergoing slit-lamp examination or non-slit-lamp examination was evident.
Conclusions: Patients are willing to participate in clinical teaching and assessment, and they gain from the experience. Patients undergoing examinations using high luminance light sources were no more affected by discomfort than those undergoing eye movement or neurological examinations. Our data demonstrate the argument for a greater role of patient-based teaching as a training and assessment tool for fundoscopy.