Abstract

Graphic pathographies(GP) are the use of graphics and illustrations for patient care and education. A disease, its symptoms, progression, and treatment plans are explained with the use of comics for better comprehension and understanding by the patients and students. Objectives: The study aims to find out the opinion and attitude of students on using GP in education & patient care, to create awareness and enhance knowledge of students by using GP. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at our institute. The study population included 250 undergraduate medical and dental students. An introduction to GP was given and a set of samples of GP created by authors was also attached along with a pre validated questionnaire. The pre-validated questionnaire which was distributed to these students, was analyzed by percentage of agreement or disagreement. Results: More than 50% of students agreed that GP were helpful (53.2%), would enable all patients (58.8%) and those with disabilities (57.2%) to understand disease, cultivate broader awareness (53.6%), improve students’ skills (52%) and increase understanding of the subject (51.2%). 73% of students preferred studying using GP. 32% felt it could discredit a doctor’s credibility. More than 40 % of students felt young patients suffering from progressive illness that can be cured would feel less afraid of what is about to happen to them (46%) though 37.6% felt it would not help patients . After being aware of GP, majority (44.8%) of students would now search for GP. Only 37.2% felt that GP would enhance doctor-patient relationship. However there was a varied response to the fact that illustrations shown could be manipulated in a wrong way by the reader. Conclusion: Based on this research, we have discovered that GP are indeed still a foreign idea to most students. Despite this, many individuals are open to this idea and believe that the use of graphics in medical education and patient care is very helpful

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