PATIENT?S PERSPECTIVE ON BEDSIDE TEACHING: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.

Background:Bedside teaching is an important part of the medical education system. It is extremely impossible to develop good physicians without the interaction with the cases. The lack of students? experience and the lack of privacy of the patients may cause negative attitude of the patients toward the students and may limit the benefit of bedside teaching.In this study we are trying to evaluate the attitude of patients and their perspective toward bedside teaching. Method:Cross-sectional study. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed among inpatients from 4 different hospitals in the holy city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Results:A total of 300 participants completed the questionnaire, 149 of them were males (49.7%) and 151 were females (50.3%). 90.3 % (271) of the patients allow both male and female medical students to view their medical file, 90 % (270) patients allowed both genders to take their medical history and personal data in the presence of a doctor, and 81.7 % (245) allowed both genders to do so even in the absence of a doctor. The majority of patients allowed both male and female medical students to be present during rounds (266; 88.7 %), in OPDs (260; 86.7 %), and in the operation room if they were having surgery (196; 65.3 %). Regarding physical examination, 77 % (231) allowed both genders to be present while a doctor is examining them, 67.3 % (202) allowed both genders to examine them in the presence of a supervising doctor, and 56 % (168) allowed themselves to be examined by both genders even in the absence of a supervising doctor. When patients were asked about their acceptance regarding diagnostic and other procedures, 77.7 % permit male and female medical students to be only present, while 54.7 % (164) permit them to perform such procedures Conclusion:The study showed an overall positive attitude toward medical students regarding bedside teaching and education in different hospitals in the city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia. This attitude however was influenced by different sociodemographic aspects, especially gender, level of education and monthly income. The majority of patients knew that they had the right to refuse medical students.