Undergraduate Training Program to Review Medical Service from the Patients' Viewpoint

Purpose: To provide a patient-centered medical service, it is crucial to review medical service by understanding the patients' viewpoint. However, there are few opportunities for medical students to learn this in Japan. Methods: Each student shadowed a new outpatient to learn the patients' viewpoint and review the medical service in the outpatient clinic. Then they considered the quality of services for patients. After the training program, a questionnaire was given to medical students in order to evaluate the educational efficacy of the program. Estimations were also collected from the patients. Results: They became more aware of the importance of the patient's viewpoint to review the quality of medical service. The students found the training program valuable. Moreover, the patients appreciated the merits of the program. Conclusion: We conclude that our program has a potential to create the awareness of the importance of the patients' viewpoint and is useful in medical education.