Medical students’ attitudes towards patient-centered care, Fayoum Medical School, Egypt

ABSTRACT Background: Patient-centered care has been considered the foundation of healthcare quality and the core competency of the doctor-patient relationship. Aims: To assess the attitudes of medical students toward a patient-centered approach and identify the predictors of patient-centeredness scores. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Fayoum Medical School/Egypt using a validated Arabic version of the Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS). Results: The total PPOS score showed variable score as the grades move up. The total PPOS ranged from 0.05 to 4.39 with an average score of (2.71 ± 0.66) for the entire sample. The sharing and caring subscale score ranged from 0.56 to 4.44 and 0.44 to 5.33 with an average score of (2.33 ± 0.49) and (3.09 ± 0.92) respectively. Conclusion: Medical students had low patient-centered attitude. Medical curricula should be redesigned, and medical students may also benefit from engagement in patient healthcare service.