Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a short, 3-hour teaching skills workshop could improve residents’ teaching performances and attitudes toward teaching.
DESIGN: Controlled study.
PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Forty-four second- and third-year residents in a university-based internal medicine residency program.
INTERVENTIONS: Twenty-two residents were assigned to a nonparticipant (control) group, and 22 residents were assigned to a 3-hour teaching skills workshop designed to help them establish a positive learning climate and provide effective feedback to medical students.
MEASUREMENTS: Questionnaires completed by medical students and residents that measured the residents’ abilities to establish a positive learning climate and provide feedback, their overall teaching skills, and their attitudes toward teaching.
RESULTS: Four months after the workshop intervention, workshop participants improved their learning climate and feedback according to student evaluations (p=.02,p=.001, respectively) and resident self-assessmentsp=.002,p=.01, respectively) compared with nonparticipants. Overall teaching skills were not significantly changed (p=.20 for student evaluation andp=.09 for self-assessments). Workshop participants also gained more confidence in their teaching (p=.001), and adopted more learner-centered approaches to teaching than did nonparticipants.
CONCLUSIONS: A 3-hour instructional workshop is a feasible and effective method to help residents improve their teaching skills, their confidence in teaching, and the approaches they use to teach medical students on the wards.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Irby DM, Gillmore GM, Ramsey PG. Factors affecting ratings of clinical teachers by medical students and residents. J Med Educ. 1987;55:1–7.
Apter A. Metzger R. Glassroth J. Residents’ perceptions of their role as teachers. J Med Educ. 1988;63:900–5.
Bing-You RG. Tooker J. Teaching skills improvement programmes in US internal medicine residencies. Med Educ. 1993;27:259–65.
Spickard AS III. Wenger BA. Corbett EC. Three essential features of a workshop to improve resident teaching skills. Teach Learn Med. 1996;8:168–71.
Skeff KM, Campbell M, Stratos G, Jones HW III, Cooke M. Assessment by attending physicians of a seminar method to improve clinical teaching. J Med Educ. 1984;59:944–50.
Neher JO, Gordon KC, Meyer B, Stevens N. A five-step ‘microskills’ model of clinical teaching. Clin Teach. 1992;5:419–24.
Bing-You RG, Greenberg LW. Training residents in clinical teaching skills: a resident-managed program. Med Teach. 1990;12:305–9.
Skeff KM, Stratos G, Campbell M, Cooke M, Jones HW III. Evaluation of the seminar method to improve clinical teaching. J Gen Intern Med. 1986;1:315–22.
Divine GW, Brown JT, Frazier LM. The unit of analysis error in studies about physicians’ patient care behavior. J Gen Intern Med. 1992;7:623–9.
Jewett LS, Greenberg LW, Goldberg RM. Teaching residents how to teach. J Med Educ. 1982;57:361–6.
Edwards JC, Kissling GE, Plauche WC, Marier RL. Evaluation of a teaching skills improvement programme for residents. Med Educ. 1988;22:514–7.
Donnelly MB, Wooliscroft JO. Evaluation of clinical instructors by third-year medical students. Acad Med. 1989;64:159–64.
Edwards JC. Kissling GE, Brannon JR. Plauche WC, Marier RL. Study teaching residents how to teach. J Med Educ. 1988;63:603–10.
Irby D. Rakestraw P. Evaluating clinical teaching in medicine. J Med Educ. 1981;56:181–6. 189.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Received from the Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Spickard, A., Corbett, E.C. & Schorling, J.B. Improving residents’ teaching skills and attitudes toward teaching. J Gen Intern Med 11, 475–480 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02599042
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02599042