Volume 25, Issue 116, October 2021

Attitudes towards patient-centered care among final-year undergraduates from four health care disciplines in a Malaysian private university

Davasooria Selvamani¹, Anis Ahmed Khan^2♦, Khadheeja Abdulla¹, Hui Min Lee¹, Ee Heng Loh¹, Ching Ying Ng¹

¹Final Year Medical Student, School of Medicine, International Medical University Clinical Campus, Seremban, Malaysia
²Senior Lecturer, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, International Medical University Clinical Campus, Kluang, Malaysia

^♦Corresponding author
Senior Lecturer, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, International Medical University Clinical Campus, Kluang, Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Background: Patient-centeredness models upon a multi-aspect treatment with the aim of providing patients with the best outcome of treatment. However, there are limited numbers of studies which compare patient-centeredness between different health care disciplines. This study aims to identify and compare the level of patient-centeredness among students in a local private healthcare university. Method: The study used a cross-sectional design using the Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS). The study population comprised 125 final year undergraduates across the disciplines of Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, and Dietetics and Nutrition. Results: Overall, no significant difference was noted in the 'sharing' and 'caring' scores between students across the four health care disciplines. The only significant difference noted was of the 'caring' scores between medical and pharmacy students. Conclusion: Final year undergraduates in International Medical University (IMU) are moderately patient-centered, regardless of whether they are in any of the four disciplines. Further studies should be carried out to compare these findings with undergraduates at various points of their education.

Keywords: Patient-centeredness, Patient-centered care, Final-year undergraduates, Health care

Medical Science, 2021, 25(116), 2552-2558

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