CONSULT ME Version 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Patient and carer experiences of involvement in remote primary care consultations for medical education (CONSULT ME): A mixed methods study
IRAS ID
332111
Contact name
Sarah Armstrong
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
UCL
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
173492, Edge ID
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of medical consultations between patients and their General Practitioners (GPs) became “remote”, i.e., the doctor and patient were not in the same room during the appointment (e.g. telephone and online consultations). This way of consulting remains utilised across primary care, and today’s medical students will be tomorrow’s GPs. This means medical students must learn how to consult with patients remotely. We need to understand what patients and their carers think about medical students being involved in their care and use this to inform and improve future student-led consultations. This mixed methods study will be conducted over two phases: (1) a short survey with patients and carers invited to speak to a medical student remotely (e.g. over the telephone) to assess their understanding of remote medical education and perceived acceptability, and (2) semi-structured follow-up interviews to understand patient and carer experiences in more depth. Participants will be patients and carers (18 years and over) registered at a GP practice providing placements for medical students, attached to one of four medical schools: University of Leeds, University College London (UCL), Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), and Keele University. The findings of this study will inform user-led guidelines for how to involve patients and their carers in remote consultations. This study will support the involvement of patients and carers as active collaborators in primary care teaching, which will foster remote patient-centred communication skills in the future GP workforce.
REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/EM/0289
Date of REC Opinion
8 Jan 2025
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion