Mid Sweden University

Objective The main objective was to gain a deeper understanding of how medical students perceive and experience learning from gynecological teaching women (GTW) instead of physicians in their first pelvic examination. A second aim was to describe how the women experience their roles as GTW.

Methods Data were collected from individual interviews with 24 medical students from a medical school in Sweden and with 5 GTW. Discourse analysis was performed to acquire a deeper understanding of the informants’ experiences and to understand social interactions.

Results Five themes revealed in the medical students’ experiences: “Hoping that anxiety will be replaced with security,” “Meeting as equals creates a sense of calm,” “Succeeding creates a sense of security for the future,” “Wanting but not having the opportunity to learn more,” and “Feeling relieved and grateful.” One theme revealed in the GTW experiences: “Hoping to relate in a trustworthy way.”

Conclusion To replace physicians with GTW may facilitate the learning process and may also help medical students improve their communicative skills. Using GTW will hopefully further improve students’ basic medical examination techniques and physician–patient relationships.

Practice implications Since GTW seems to increase self-confidence and skills of medical students performing their first pelvic examination we recommend that the use of GTW is considered in the training of medical students.