Virtual Clinical Experiences (VCE) Research Study

Teaching students live online during GP consultation

Observing and participating in GP consultations is important for undergraduate medical students to be able to gain the skills and knowledge to become the doctors of tomorrow.

Typically, medical students would – with patient consent – be allowed to be present in the room during a consultation with a GP to gain this experience.

However, new advancements in technology mean that these students no longer need to be physically present in the GP practice to observe and participate in consultations; instead, they can be located remotely online.

This research project is investigating the effectiveness of live streaming of GP consultations for educational purposes to undergraduate medical students who are located remotely. 

Invitation to participate

You are being invited to take part in this research project.

The University of Leeds are acting as sponsor for this study and are conducting the study in collaboration with Global Health Education Group. It is funded for one year by Health Education England.

Before you decide whether to participate it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what it will involve.

Please take time to read the following information carefully and discuss it with others if you wish.

You will have the opportunity to ask a member of the research team about anything that is not clear or if you would like more information.

Take time to decide whether or not you wish to take part.

What will happen during the consultation if I participate?

Your consultation with the GP in terms of the treatment you will receive will be as usual.

However, when you walk into the consultation room, the clinician (GP, consultant etc.) will be wearing ‘smart glasses’ to live stream the consultation to undergraduate medical students from the University of Leeds who will be located remotely.

Below is an image of a GP wearing smart glasses during a consultation. The smart glasses have a camera and microphone which allow you to hear the students and for the students to see and hear you.

You will also be able to see the students on the laptop screen as pictured in the image below.

This format means that the medical students will also be able to interact with the clinician and you, the patient, as if they were in the room. 

No part of the consultation will be recorded or stored in any way. The platform (as shown on the laptop screen in the image above) has also been designed to ensure patient safety at all times; the GP can pause the stream of a consultation with students at any moment in time.

This means that if you would like the live video/audio stream to be stopped at any point, you just have to tell the GP to pause the session with the students and your consultation will continue as normal; you do not have to give a reason.

After the consultation has ended, the clinician will remove their smart glasses and the live streaming to the students will end. You will then have an opportunity to discuss anything you wish with your GP in the absence of the medical students.

The research aims to evaluate whether this is an effective way to enhance medical education.

The research will explore the impact on learners and the educational experience, the impact on GPs and their role in the consultation. But most importantly, it will explore the impact on you, the patient, and your consultation.

We will be asking for your feedback about the experience from your point of view.

Why have I been chosen?

You have been chosen as you are a patient in one of the participating clinics and your consultation does not require any intimate examinations.

What will I do if I take part?

Your participation in this research will involve your consultation with the GP (as described above) and a short feedback conversation that will take place immediately after the consultation.

The consultation

Since it is an educational interaction, this means that the consultation will last longer. The allocated time for this consultation is approximately 45 minutes, but the consultation length will depend on your clinical needs. There will be between 3 and 10 students online during your consultation.

The feedback

When you leave the consultation room, the project researcher will ask to have a short conversation with you about your experience. You do not have to participate in this conversation if you do not want to, and you do not have to give a reason.

This ‘feedback’ conversation will be around 15-20 minutes long and will take the form of a conversation. This conversation will be audio recorded. 

Do I have to take part?

Your participation in this research project is entirely voluntary. It is up to you to decide whether or not to take part. You can stop being part of the study at any time, without giving a reason, but we will keep information about you that we already have.

If you decide not to participate, your appointment will take place as normal.

It is important to highlight that if you choose to take part in the live-streamed consultation, this does not mean that you are required to take part in the short feedback conversation. Before the feedback conversation, you will be asked to revisit your consent to make sure that you are still happy to be part of the research.

You can withdraw at any time before or during your participation in any of the activities.

What are the possible benefits of taking part?

Whilst there are no immediate benefits for patients participating in the project, it is hoped that this work will increase the range of clinical consultations that undergraduate medical students experience and prepare them better for in-person placements. 

Use, dissemination and storage of research data

• You will be asked for personal data related to gender, age and ethnicity. This will be anonymised and will be used to compare the experience of different groups of patients.
• Data will also be generated from the feedback conversation. The recording will be shared with a University of Leeds approved transcription service. A confidentiality agreement is in place.
• The transcription data will be used for research purposes only.
• The transcription data will be anonymised.
• The transcription data will be stored on University of Leeds secure servers for five years.
• Anonymised excerpts from the transcription may be used in academic and research publications, reports and presentations. 

How will we use information about you?

We will need to use information from you for this research project. This information will include your name. People will use this information to conduct the research or to check your records to make sure that the research is being done properly.

People who do not need to know who you are will not be able to see your name. Your data will have a code number instead. We will keep all information about you safe and secure. Once we have finished the study, we will keep some of the data so we can check the results.

We will write our reports in a way that no-one can work out that you took part in the study.

What are your choices about how your information is used?

We need to manage your records in specific ways for the research to be reliable. This means that we won’t be able to let you see or change the data we hold about you. If you agree to take part in this study, you will have the option to take part in future research using your data saved from this study.

What will happen to the results of the research project?

All the contact information that we collect about you during the research will be kept strictly confidential and will be stored separately from the research data.

We will anonymise the research data so that you will not be identified in any reports or publications.

The results of the research will be used to write a project report, and to develop academic publications and presentations. The findings will be used to make decisions about whether this type of consultation is effective for medical education, and whether clinicians and patients find it acceptable.

We will be holding a patient feedback session towards the end of the project to which you will be invited.

Research data is a valuable asset for academic research. We may use the data collected in this project in future research. If this happens it will be used in the same way as described above.

What if there is a problem?

If you wish to complain, or have any concerns about any aspect of the way you have been approached or treated during the course of this study, you should contact Dr Kelvin Gomez (a.k.gomez@leeds.ac.uk) or Dr Jane Kirby (j.kirby@leeds.ac.uk).

There are no special compensation arrangements. University of Leeds will provide indemnity for this study. If you are harmed due to someone’s negligence, then you may have grounds for legal action but you may have to pay it.

You will also be able to contact your local Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) in the first instance.

Who is organising/ funding the research?

The University of Leeds are acting as sponsor for this study and are conducting the study in collaboration with Global Health Education Group. The project is funded by Health Education England.

Contact for further information

You can find out more about how we use your information via:

• The NHS Health Research Authority website 
• An online NHS Health Research Authority leaflet about patient data and research
• By asking a member of the research team:
  Research Fellow Dr Kelvin Gomez - a.k.gomez@leeds.ac.uk 
  Chief Investigator Dr Jane Kirby - j.kirby@leeds.ac.uk

You can also contact the corresponding University of Leeds data protection officer at: dpo@leeds.ac.uk.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this information sheet.

Consent

You will be given a copy of the information sheet and, you will be asked to sign a consent form, a copy of which you will be able to keep.

You will also be provided with the Privacy Notice for Research.