One Angry Patient, Two Students, and a Tutor

Abstract

Student interns at UCT spend two of their four weeks in family medicine at a Day Hospital seeing patients under the supervision of Family Medicine tutors. During this time tutors, by using a student centred approach to their students, encourage students to adopt a patient-centred approach to their patients. Students are consulted by patients alone and then plan their management later, after discussion with the tutors. During their time in Family Medicine students are encouraged to examine difficult aspects ofpatient care such as dealing with their own and their patient's emotions: by discussion, by reading, and by writing patient-reports for assessment. In this patient-triggered way students are encouraged to reflect on and to learn from each patient encounter.