Three Concrete Tips for Teaching Clerkship Medical Students

Neil Dinesh Dattani

ABSTRACT

Medical education, and specifically the training of future physicians, is given a lot of importance, for good reason. Current teaching paradigms aim to teach medical students the principles of adult learning, which in this context refers to the ability to access resources and learn independently to meet self–imposed knowledge expectations. While emphasizing adult learning is effective at making students aware of the role they play in their own learning, clerkship students are not yet independent practitioners, and thus are supervised by numerous residents and staff physicians on any given rotation. There is enormous potential for learning to take place in supervisor– student relationships. However, teaching in these settings is often ineffective for a number of reasons. This paper summarizes the recent research literature in clerkship medical education, and then presents three concrete tips for residents and staff physicians to keep in mind when supervising and teaching clerkship medical students.

KEYWORDS: medical education; clinical clerkship; clinical skills; teaching strategies

Full text (PDF, 2.82MB)

Dattani ND. Three Concrete Tips for Teaching Clerkship Medical Students. UBCMJ. 2014 5(2):14-15.