Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To find what users think of the presence of medical residents (MIR) at primary care consultations. DESIGN: Observational and cross-sectional descriptive study. SETTING: Urban health centre. PATIENTS: 421 patients, selected by systematic sampling, attending consultations of MIR tutors. METHOD: A structured questionnaire was drawn up, with some closed questions with multiple-option replies on the Likert scale; and others with a yes/no or "indifferent" reply. The questionnaires were filled out in the waiting-rooms. RESULTS: 100% (63% women, 37% men) answered the questionnaire. 71% preferred to be seen by the same doctor; and 68% thought they were better treated if they were always seen by the same doctor. 89% thought that the presence of the resident was a necessary part of his/her training; 90% were not bothered by his/her presence during the consultation; 82% thought the resident did not obstruct in any way their relationship with the doctor; 94% thought that the presence of the resident had never stopped them mentioning something important; 55% thought that patients had the right to an opinion on the presence of the resident. CONCLUSIONS: Most patients valued the presence of residents at consultations positively and thought it a necessary part of their training.