Patient Involvement in Medical Education Research: Results From an International Survey of Medical Education Researchers

Katherine A Moreau; Kaylee Eady; Sarah E Heath

doi:10.1177/2374373520981484

Patient Involvement in Medical Education Research: Results From an International Survey of Medical Education Researchers

J Patient Exp. 2021 Jan 13:8:2374373520981484. doi: 10.1177/2374373520981484. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Katherine A Moreau¹, Kaylee Eady², Sarah E Heath¹

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
² Centre for Research on Educational and Community Services, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Abstract

There are demands to involve patients in medical education research (MER). This study surveyed researchers to examine the extent and nature of patient involvement in MER. It obtained 283 completed surveys (response rate of 5%). Of the respondents, 153 (54.1%) indicated that they involve patients in MER. Of these respondents, 102 (66.7%) stated that patients are data sources in MER, 41 (26.8%) noted that patients are involved as advisors and/or reviewers, and/or 22 (14.4%) indicated that patients are involved as team members. These respondents reported that they involve patients to improve the relevance of their MER to patients (n = 99; 64.7%), connect MER to patient outcomes (n = 98; 64.1%), and improve the appropriateness of MER (n = 92; 60.1%). The 130 respondents who do not involve patients in MER do not involve them because they believe that their research topic(s) are irrelevant to patients (n = 68; 52.3%), they have limited resources for patient involvement (n = 40; 30.8%), and/or they do not know how to involve patients (n = 28; 21.5%). Researchers need to consider how they can conduct their MER with patients.

Keywords: medical education research; patient involvement; patient outcomes.