Consent for teaching: the experience of women attending a gynaecology clinic

OBJECTIVES: To examine women's experience of the consent process for involvement in medical education in a teaching hospital. DESIGN: Questionnaire survey. PARTICIPANTS: The study involved 181 (90% response rate) women aged 17-79 years who attended 1 gynaecology clinic. SETTING: A gynaecology clinic in an inner London teaching hospital. RESULTS: Women were broadly positive about the presence of students in gynaecology clinics. The current process relies on implied consent and women actively opting out of involvement. Despite hospital policy to inform all outpatients in their appointment letter that students may be present at the clinic, 58% of patients did not recall being informed in this way. Although 91% of women did not object to student presence, only 65% reported having been asked if they wanted it. Subjective feeling of choice about the student presence was associated with advance notice, either by letter or previous experience of students at clinics. Women differentiated between consent for different aspects of interaction with students. CONCLUSION: Notification of the presence of students in standard appointment letters does not adequately inform patients. Clinical teachers need to ensure that the measures in place to inform women and to seek their active consent about involvement in teaching are robust.