CONSULT-ME study

“Today’s medical students are tomorrow’s GPs."

Close up photography of a female student on a laptop.

Introduction

We would like to understand what patients think about being invited to speak to medical students during remote GP consultations. Specifically, we are interested in 1) how they find this process and 2) their understanding of their role in medical education and information needs when speaking to students remotely. Participants will be patients and carers over 18 years old, registered at a GP practice hosting medical students from one of four Universities: University College London (UCL), Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), University of Leeds & Keele University. This study will use two phases. 

  • Phase 1: Participants will complete a short survey with questions including demographic information (e.g., age, gender) and ‘acceptability’ of speaking to medical students remotely.
  • Phase 2: Participants will be invited to a follow-up interview (face-to-face or over the phone). Interviews will take up to one hour.  

The CONSULT-ME study (REC: 24/EM/0289) is a mixed-methods cross-sectional study which aims to understand patients’ and carers’ perspectives regarding student-led remote primary care consultations. The study will be conducted in two phases: first, surveys will be conducted, which are followed by interviews to explore perspectives in more depth.

We are recruiting two GP practices per Medical School (University College London, Keele University, University of Leeds and Queen Mary University London) to get involved in research about patients' views on student-led remote consultations.'

Benefits: your patients can contribute to medical education, your practice can gain experience in the research process, plus a small reimbursement available for costs.

Summary

  • General practice provides over 300 million patient consultations each year in the UK.
  • During the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of medical consultations between patients and their GPs became “remote” (e.g. telephone or video) and this way of consulting remains common.
  • We know GP tutors and students find remote consulting teaching to be valuable.
  • Medical students benefit in their training when there is involvement of patients and carers, including during their GP placements.
  • However, to date, no study has reported on the patients’ (and their carers’) perspectives on student-led remote consultations.
Aim: to understand patients’ and carers’ views about students leading remote consultations

Methodology

  • Phase 1: Patients and carers (aged 18+) will be invited to complete a short survey after being offered a remote appointment with a medical student.
  • Phase 2: Semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample will explore in more depth participants’ experiences of student-led consultations and their understanding of, and information needs when involved in remote medical education.
  • Statistical analyses will be performed on the survey data. The anonymised verbatim transcripts of the interviews will be analysed using Framework Analysis in NVivo software for qualitative analysis.
  • The study received NHS ethical approval in January 2025 (REC reference: 24/EM/0289).

Recruitment

  • We are looking for two local GP practices per medical school (eight in total) that host students to recruit patients for the study.
  • To be eligible, the practice should host medical students from one of the following Medical Schools: University College London, Keele University, University of Leeds, or Queen Mary University of London. The medical students in the practice should be undertaking some form of remote consulting (telephone or video).
  • This is a great opportunity for local practices to be involved in medical education research. A UCL Research Fellow and the local Research Delivery Network (RDN) will be available to support you in the recruitment processes at your practice and answer any questions patients and carers might have about the study.

If you join the study as a recruiting site, you would:

  • Receive a site visit from the Research Fellow to help you set up and establish recruitment processes
  • Receive training for practice staff in screening patient eligibility for the study and sending out invitations to participate in the study
  • Advertise the study on your website and noticeboards
  • Invite approximately 50 registered patients to complete the survey (across several placement rotations/weeks)

Benefits of being involved in the research

  • Involvement in research offers a range of benefits for participating surgeries; from exposure to the latest projects that support clinical care to ensuring healthcare professionals are kept up to date with research skills and local evidence.
  • Furthermore, patients are often very positive about participating in research and feel empowered by the opportunity to have their voices heard.
  • As a Participant Identification Centre (PIC), the involvement in this study attracts a practice payment for service support and research costs

Contact details

For questions please contact:

Study team

1. Steering Committee

2. Stakeholder Group

  • Dr Sarah Armstrong (co-PI), UCL
  • Dr Sadie Lawes-Wickwar (co-PI), UEA
  • Charles Coombs, NHS Junior Doctor
  • Madiha Sajid, Public Contributor
  • Tanya Cohen, Public Contributor
  • Dr Rofique Ali, QMUL
  • Dr Sara Garfield, UCL
  • Professor Dame Robina Shah, University of Manchester
  • Ishveer Sanghera, UCL Medical Student representative
  • Melody Sorinola, Keele Medical Student representative
  • Beatrix Haigh, University of Leeds Medical Student representative
  • Iris van der Scheer (Research Fellow), UCL