[The physician as teacher. Ways to measure the quality of medical training]

Abstract

Ninety percent of medical students' training is comprised of working and learning in the clinical setting. Good training is the responsibility of the physicians who also work in that setting. It is important that these physicians are aware of what is expected of them in this role. We defined 7 domains for clinical teachers: being a role model, task allocation, planning, providing feedback, teaching methodology, assessment, and personality. There are several feedback instruments for measuring the quality of a clinical teacher, each addressing these seven domains differently. When providing clinical teachers with feedback, written evaluation alone is not sufficient to induce change. Dialogue between residents and their clinical teacher leads to mutual understanding and enhances the effect of feedback. This is beneficial to the individual trainer, training team and the residents.