Vol. 2, Issue 2, Part A (2025)

Bedside teaching remains a cornerstone of clinical education, yet concerns persist about its impact on patients’ comfort and confidence in the care they receive. Contemporary literature suggests that, when done well, bedside rounds can enhance patient understanding, satisfaction, and engagement without compromising privacy or dignity. However, little is known about the specific effect of short, structured bedside teaching sessions on patients’ confidence in hospital wards. This prospective research evaluates whether brief (10-15 minute) bedside teaching encounters, integrated into routine ward rounds, influence patients’ confidence in their treating team. Adult inpatients in medical wards were allocated to either standard ward rounds or ward rounds incorporating short bedside teaching sessions led by senior residents with medical students present. Patient confidence was measured within 24 hours of the round using a validated patient-confidence questionnaire adapted from instruments assessing trust and confidence in physicians, alongside secondary outcomes of perceived communication quality and willingness to ask questions. We hypothesised that patients exposed to short bedside teaching would report higher confidence scores than those receiving usual care. Preliminary analyses indicate that patients generally welcome bedside teaching, particularly when they are introduced to students, consent is explicitly obtained, and the teaching emphasises clear explanations and shared decision-making. Patients in the intervention group showed higher mean confidence scores and reported better understanding of their diagnosis and management plan, without increases in reported discomfort or concerns about privacy. These findings suggest that carefully structured short bedside teaching sessions can strengthen patient confidence while preserving the educational value of bedside rounds. Embedding patient-centred principles into such encounters may help reconcile educational needs with patient expectations in busy hospital wards.