The patient panel conference experience: what patients can teach our residents about competency issues.

Purpose: In 2007, the Scott & White/Texas A&M HSC College of Medicine began requiring all internal medicine residents to attend quarterly patient panel conferences, during which former Scott & White patients speak frankly about their inpatient and outpatient experiences. The main purpose of this mixed-methods pilot study was to determine whether residents' competency education could be enhanced via the conferences.

Method: Of the 54 internal medicine residents in the residency program, 31, 39, and 41 participated in three patient panel conferences, respectively, between December 2007 and August 2008.