Table 4 Summary of thematic analysis categories from students’ responses on the Feedback Form (N = 53)
From: Taking care of our future doctors: a service evaluation of a medical student mental health service
Category | Sub-category and Quotes | Number of students (n) | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
Clinical students’ satisfaction with the service | Helpful and supportive “Brilliant service...Helped me a lot.” “… and extremely helpful” “It’s very comforting knowing that this service exists.” “Supportive & non-judgmental” | 18 | 33.96 |
Improvement and recovery “It made all the difference on my recovery” “I saw significant improvement with my issues/finally start to see some progress.” | 4 | 7.55 | |
Contrast to other services “Listened & gave me more suitable treatment than that through IAPT” “Much quicker response than standard NHS process.” “Understands the difficulty faced by clinical students better than other services” | 10 | 18.87 | |
Increased service awareness “Awareness could be better, I was only made aware by staff months after taking time off.” “More advertising to clinical school about this service” | 9 | 16.98 | |
Tailor-made treatments | Specialised to medical students “I feel like you really understand how it can be difficult for us to fit in sessions because of the course and you try to accommodate that.” “Understanding around demands of being medical student (tailored support)” “This service is tailored for clinical students, they are familiar with the particular problems and challenge” | 13 | 24.53 |
Person centred-care “My concerns and questions are considered and acted upon.” “Personal service” “I had input into the treatment plan and the direction it should go in.” “feel like will support me in what I want to achieve” | 18 | 33.96 | |
Suitable medications or therapy “Psychiatric input finding right medication for me” “Psychological therapy was really helpful.” “CBT (has) given me the tools to manage my condition more effectively on a day to day basis/long term... thank you for helping me to learn how to manage things more effectively” “The CBT was extremely useful.” | 11 | 20.75 | |
Positive perception of clinicians | Compassionate, kind and respectful manner “Therapists have respectful and caring manner” “Amazing therapist and amazing team.” “Incredibly understanding and encouraging.” “She was kind and understanding of what I was going through” | 36 | 67.92 |
Feel comfortable, understood and listened to “Made me feel comfortable talking about things that I felt were to(o) difficult to talk about” “She gave me a lot of time to express what I was feeling and my frustration for not finding anyone to help …. I felt comfortable disclosing personal or embarrassing thoughts.” “Feels like I’m listened to.” | 18 | 33.96 | |
Service barriers and facilitators | Ease of accessibility “The accessibility was superior to that of the normal mental health referral routes” “Tt has been very easy to make appointments when I’ve needed them” “It’s easy to access” | 16 | 30.19 |
Rapid response “Rapid, Personal service” “Very fast response and a great help” “Quick response and appointment times” | 16 | 30.19 | |
Flexibility “Length and frequency of appointments are very good” “Flexible appointments- always happy to see me when I needed it.” “Very supportive of my needs and flexible regarding placements” | 11 | 20.75 | |
Confidentiality “Having somewhere else to wait for appointment in the liaison psych block at Addenbrookes. I often see other students on their placement whilst I am waiting for my appointment which does not feel very confidential.” “Find a way to see staff members without other students seeing you are waiting for an appointment” | 3 | 5.66 |