Why are Teaching Skills Important for Residents? Residents do a lot of teaching. Medical students receive a significant part of their education from residents. It has been estimated that first-year residents devote approximately 10% of their time teaching, while senior-level residents may devote as much as 70% of their time teaching, a high proportion of which is via informal role modeling. Because residents spend so much of their time teaching, it is important that they learn to make the teaching process integral to their own learning process. The more you understand the processes of teaching and learning, the more you can gain from your own learning experiences. Therefore, by improving your teaching, not only will students benefit, but also your learning will become more complete. Remember, "to teach is to learn twice." Derived from TL Schwenk & N. Whitman (1993). Residents as Teachers: A guide to educational practice. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah School of Medicine. |
Teaching and Learning Reminder. To be a truly effective teacher, it is fundamental to have a clear picture of what constitutes "learning." In the context of medical education, learning is a combination of knowledge, attitudes, and skills that promote the development of a physician. It is important to realize that knowledge is more than the acquisition of new information, but it is also the comprehension of the concepts that underlie the facts -- making the knowledge available for practical application in multiple ways. Derived from TL Schwenk & N. Whitman (1993). Residents as Teachers: A guide to educational practice. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah School of Medicine. |
Clinical Teaching
In clinical teaching, it is no easy task to provide optimal patient care while enhancing the learning experience for the student. Not only does the instructor face the problem of teaching to a variety of learning levels, but often times, the demands of patient care restricts some important instructional procedures. Attending physicians and residents must continually determine how time will be expended and whose needs will be met. Leadership must be exerted to ensure that effective instruction occurs for your team in the clinical setting. The patients’ needs must never be neglected, but it is necessary to find creative uses of time to help provide opportunities for learning to occur. Although it is the students’ responsibility to learn, your role is to provide those opportunities and stimulate their thinking.
Derived from D Weinholtz & J Edwards (1992). Teaching During Rounds: A handbook for attending physicians and residents. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Recommendations
for Improving
Residents’ Teaching During Rounds
Derived from D Weinholtz & J Edwards (1992). Teaching During Rounds: A handbook for attending physicians and residents. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
In Your Initial Meeting with the Students
Provide any orientation that students may need in order to succeed on the unit/service.
State your expectations.
Communicate more than just work routines.
Identify the specific learning objectives for the team and communicate them to the students.
Manage both the patient and the team to provide the opportunities for the students to attain the objectives.
Solicit information from students, attendings, and other residents for use in better understanding student needs and in motivating them to learn.
Establish a positive learning climate where team members and the attending can have an open exchange of ideas and information, while encouraging only a healthy amount of competition among the student team members.
Allocating Time for Teaching
To meet the learning needs of all team members, plan the uses of your time and theirs to take full advantage of the teaching opportunities.
Be prepared to take advantage of "teachable moments" that occur throughout the day at unscheduled times and in unscheduled locations.
Plan ahead and make individual student and team assignments with a view toward their educational as well as their medical benefits.
Next month’s issue of Teaching Tips will provide tips on teaching in the conference room, teaching at the bedside, and how to effectively wrap-up the rotation.
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