Intended for healthcare professionals

Student Careers

Producing patient literature

BMJ 2005; 330 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/sbmj.0505200 (Published 01 May 2005) Cite this as: BMJ 2005;330:0505200
  1. Richard Crane, fourth year medical student1,
  2. Bakula Patel, clinical lecturer in primary care1
  1. 1University of Nottingham

Students are sometimes asked to produce a patient information booklet as a project or module on their course. Richard Crane and Bakula Patel explain how to get started

Many hospitals, charities, and support groups produce their own literature on a wide range of topics. Evidence shows that patients' recall of a consultation is often poor.1 So as people increasingly want to participate in choosing their care, literature for patients is a useful resource. Information can be read and absorbed at their own pace. But the standard of this information is often inadequate, either being presented poorly or with inappropriate content.2 Medical students are sometimes asked to contribute to these resources either as a course module or project.

When writing patient information, there are three things to think about:

  • What does the patient want to know?

  • What messages does the medical profession want to get across?

  • What is the most appropriate way to give the information?

What does the patient want to know?

Many of the things a patient will want to know are the same things that you or I would want to know if diagnosed with something previously unknown to us. The best way to find out exactly what to include is to speak to patients who have been diagnosed with the …

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