How video cases in preparatory teaching influence students’ approaches to patients in psychiatric clerkship. A qualitative study.

Abstract

Background This study explored how a preparatory teaching format using patient cases portrayed in videos influenced medical students’ clinical learning and practice experiences in their psychiatric clerkship.Methods The study applied a qualitative explorative design. We asked the students to draw their experience with a patient encounter in real clinical setting. Subsequently we interviewed the students unfold the students’ perspectives on how they navigated learning from the preparatory teaching in their clerkship. Data was transcribed verbatim and coded by an inductive thematic analysis.ResultsThe results demonstrated that students’ use of learning from the video cases varied according to their roles in patient encounter situations in their clerkship. Students having active roles in the diagnostic interview adopted a patient-centred focus demonstrated by empathic engagement with the patient and self-reflexivity related to the video cases. Students with passive roles, observing a doctor, described a self-centred focus on how to adopt an appropriate appearance and copied the surface behaviour of the simulated doctors in the video cases.Conclusion Our study findings contribute to broadening the understanding of how video cases in preparatory teaching formats affect students’ approach to patient encounters and their clinical learning experience. The results also reflect the importance of active engagement of students in the clinical learning context if preparatory teaching should have an effect.