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Objectives There is a gap in the curriculum for medical students in training around understanding the full patient journey and the experiences of patients who require admission to hospitals. Medical Students had the option to choose an innovative special module on Patient Experience and Quality Improvement. The students were expected to understand the patient journey and how to embed QI to improve experience using real life data. Methods Between November 2022 and February 2023 three pairs of penultimate year students each spent four weeks working with the Patient Experience team, during which time they found out about the work of the team, alongside the role of PALS in enhancing patient experience across the hospital. The students also undertook a quality improvement project, looking at real patient feedback data to identify themes, real comments, concerns and complaints allowing them to see trends and make recommendations for how practice could be improved to make patients feel as comfortable as possible during their time in hospital. Students chose which outcome to explore from the patient feedback. Results All the students reported minimal exposure to patient experience and quality improvement, minimal contact with non healthcare workers in their training prior to this experience. They were able to view first hand the concerns patients have and saw behind scenes experience of the pressures within the NHS. They report that they were exposed to collaborative working with non-clinical staff enabling them develop skills on quality improvement and contribute to initiatives of improving patient experience given that they were able to analyse data and able to identify areas of improvement. Students also reflected on how this programme might benefit their future practice. They plan to adapt their practice accordingly and be proactive in ensuring best experience for their patients using collaborative working and always keeping patients at the centre of their work. Conclusion Getting students to think about the patient experience early in their training is so advantageous as it starts them focusing on what patients feel and what they want from those providing their care at the start of their career journey. Additionally, it has helped to provide more rounded training to those who have taken part as they understand their roles outside of their standard clinical curriculum. We believe that this is both innovative given the collaborative nature and prepares students for future practice using real world experience more than text book. This project was nominated for a national award and plan to use the same principles in the 2023–24 programme.
Okike et al. (Tue,) studied this question.