How patient educators help students to learn: an exploratory study
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Benefits of the active involvement of patients in educating health professionals are well-recognized but little is known about how patient educators facilitate student learning. METHOD: This exploratory qualitative study investigated the teaching practices and experiences that prepared patient educators for their roles in a longitudinal interprofessional Health Mentors program. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven experienced health mentors. Responses were coded and analyzed for themes related to teaching goals, methods, and prior experiences. RESULTS: Mentors used a rich variety of teaching methods to teach patient-centeredness and interprofessionalism, categorized as: telling my story, stimulating reflection, sharing perspectives, and problem-solving. As educators they drew on a variety of prior experiences with teaching, facilitation or public speaking and long-term interactions with the health-care system. CONCLUSIONS: Patient educators use diverse teaching methods, drawing on both individualistic and social perspectives on learning. A peer-support model of training and support would help maintain the authenticity of patients as educators. The study highlights inadequacies of current learning theories to explain how patients help students learn.
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Cited rationale was to make education more engaging, powerful and transformative.
“to make education more engaging, powerful and transformative38;”
From Role of active patient involvement in undergraduate medical education: a systematic review (2020) · cites this paper as [38]
Patients could choose their own teaching method, such as telling their stories and stimulating reflection.
“Patients could choose their own teaching method, such as telling their stories and stimulating reflection.38”
From Role of active patient involvement in undergraduate medical education: a systematic review (2020) · cites this paper as [38]
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- Authors
- Cheng, P. T. M., & Towle, A.
- Affiliations
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Towle, Angela
- Venue
- Medical Teacher
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2016-12-26
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 308-314
- ISSN
- 0142-159X (ISSN-L)
- 1466-187X
- OpenAlex
- W2562192075
- Cited by
- 50
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 6 · 2018: 4
- FWCI
- 1.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Medical Teacher (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- CIHR Health
- UBC Faculty of Medicine
- CIHR (Health Professional Student Research Award) and the University of British Columbia (Faculty of Medicine).
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Innovations in Medical Education
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Empathy and Medical Education
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Interprofessional Education and Collaboration
- Keywords
- patient educators, patient-centeredness, interprofessional education, teaching methods, reflection, problem solving, health professions education, learning theory
- MeSH terms
- Education, Medical, Undergraduate, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Learning, Patient Participation
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