Background:Patient teachers were involved in training general practice residents (GPRs) to strengthen the patient-centered approach. They teach a course on health democracy by themselves and teach in tandem with a physician teacher during reflective practice-based classes (named GEPRIs). We present the GPRs’ representations of patient teacher characteristics and capacities and their perception of how useful patient teachers are to their professional development.Methods:We administered a questionnaire based on a preliminary qualitative study to 124 GPRs. It explored (a) changes in the GPRs’ representations about patient teacher characteristics and capacities with regard to teaching over the first year of the experiment; (b) GPRs’ perception of patient teacher utility to their training and their contribution to developing patient perspective–related competencies.Results:The response rate was 89.5% (111/124). The majority of GPRs agreed with 17 (before) and 21 (after) of the 23 patient teacher characteristics and with 17 (before) and 19 (after) of the 20 capacities. The agreement rate increased, overall, after patient teacher participation. The GPRs found patient teacher useful to their training in 9 of 11 topics (agreement rate 65%-92%). They felt they had developed the 14 patient knowledge–related competencies (agreement rate 62%-93%), and 52% to 75% of the GPRs rated the patient teachers’ contribution to those competencies “high or very high,” depending on the competency.Conclusion:This study demonstrates the specific contribution of patient teachers to university-level medical training in France. The GPRs recognized that patient teachers helped them develop competencies by providing patient-specific content.

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Ever since 2006, Nantes University dental educators have started organising lectures led by the mother of a young patient suffering from ectodermic dysplasia (patient-educator) to help second-year students to better understand how important it is for their future dental work to better understand basic sciences. In this study, we have analysed this training experience on students' motivation. For this purpose, students were asked to complete questionnaires 10 days after the patient-educator's lecture (early assessment; n = 193) and 4 years later, during the last year of their dental studies (delayed assessment; n = 47). Moreover, 3 years after the first lecture, we analysed the ability of students to diagnose a mother carrying the ectodermic dysplasia genetic disorder, using a case-based learning exercise with a patient showing dental features similar to those exposed by the patient-educator (measure of knowledge; n = 42). Ten days after the lecture, the early assessment shows that all the students were interested in the lecture and 59% of the students declared being motivated to find out more about genetics whilst 54% declared the same thing about embryology courses. Moreover, 4 years later, 67% of the students remembered the patient-educator's lecture a little or very well. Three years after the course, 83% of the students diagnosed ectodermal dysplasia whilst studying the case-based example that listed typical dental phenotypes. In conclusion, this study shows that this original educational approach enhances dental students' motivation in learning basic sciences and that patient-educators could offer many benefits for students and patients.

-Context: Some patients, known as expert patients, strive to improve the performance of the health care system. The precise nature of their activities, skills and personality traits are unclear however, which could compromise their recognition. Methods: This study was conducted based on the assumptions of methodological individualism and social constructivism. We identified twelve expert patients using a judgment sampling technique and asked them to give accounts of their practices. We then performed thematic and categorical data analysis. Results: We identified the activities that these patients engage in when they are acting as expert-patients. From that characterisation we determined that their core competency was "to improve the management and/or prevention of the illness." In practicing that core competency they make use of thirteen competencies in the realms of self-reliance and intercultural and emotional competence. Their personality traits are on the order of emotional intelligence. Discussion: These results help us better understand the nature of expert patients' actions and their contribution to the health care system. These should make it easier for traditional actors to identify and recruit them, as recommended by the World Health Organisation. They could also be used as pedagogical benchmarks in a potential (self-) training process.Key words: expert patients / self-reliance skills / intercultural skills / emotional skills / emotional intelligence Résumé -Ce que les patients-experts rapportent de leurs activités dans le système de santé français et les compétences et traits de personnalité nécessaires pour les réaliser. Contexte : Certains patients, dits des patientsexperts, cherchent à rendre le système de santé plus performant. Toutefois, la nature exacte de leurs activités, de leurs compétences, et celle de leurs traits de personnalité restent flous ce qui nuit à leur reconnaissance. Méthode : La recherche a été réalisée à partir des présupposés de l'individualisme méthodologique et du socioconstructivisme. Nous avons identifié 12 patients-experts selon une technique d'échantillonnage par choix raisonné et avons recueilli leurs récits de pratique. Il a été procédé à une analyse thématique et catégorielle. Résultats : Nous avons repéré les activités qui servent l'engagement de ces patients en tant que patients-experts. Cette caractérisation a permis de déterminer deux types distincts de patients-experts portés pour l'un sur les problématiques biomédicales de la maladie et pour l'autre sur ses problématiques psychosociales. Tous deux cherchent à « Améliorer la prise en charge et/ou la prévention de la maladie ». A cet effet, ils sollicitent 13 compétences qui sont du registre des compétences de l'autonomie, interculturelles et émotionnelles. Quant à leurs traits de personnalité, ils renvoient aux caractéristiques de l'intelligence émotionnelle. Discussion : Ces résultats donnent un cadre permettant de mieux comprendre la nature des actions des patients-experts et celle de leur contribution...