See One, Do One, TEACH One: Dissecting the Clinician-Teacher

Doctor: an agentive noun from the latin verb docere “to teach”.

We all have great clinician-teachers that seamlessly jump from subject to subject effectively being able to teach pearls with each case. You stand in awe as you realize how much they know. Some of us may have chosen our residency programs based on exposure to these clinicians. What are some elements of an effective clinician-teacher and how can a resident become better at this endeavor?

Simplified, the first hurdles include having:

The knowledge base and skills set in the content you are trying to teach
The ability to communicate effectively with the learner

There are novice teachers that do not understand the content enough in order to effectively teach as well as experts that are not able to communicate with a learner.

Preparation goes a long way, start small pick a topic as alum Dr. Joshi pointed out in her previous blog on the teaching file. For example does your medical student or junior resident understand low risk chest pain during your main ED shift or the knowledge to read an ECG?

Prepare to be an expert in any mini topic that you desire from the textbook to the most current literature on this topic. The beauty of this is that you can review the topics and teach what you learned as it applies to a patient. I also like to point out great board review topics as the shift goes along. By becoming an effective clinician-teacher you will solidify your knowledge base.

Dissecting the clinician-teacher further your mini topics or teaching file should focus on small facts about the topic instead of lectures in the emergency department. Probe by asking the learner a question about the topic, find out where the knowledge gap lies and fill it. It is important to allow your learner enough time to process and answer. Questions do not have to be an oral presentation of PEER VIII. A simple “Why do you think this is the case? or “How would you treat this patient?”, can be helpful in diagnosing your learners knowledge gaps.

Communication is key as a physician for various reasons. Most importantly while educating patients and other physicians. Being able to simplify complex medical diagnoses or decisions can be a challenge. At times effective communication requires creativity, the use of diagrams, images and the internet can be extremely helpful in getting your take home points through. Ask your learner if the information “makes sense” be prepared to answer questions and look up information if you do not know the answer.

Evaluate what you value in a clinician-teacher for yourself and try to model that behavior. A helpful on-line tool can be found at: http://residentteachers.usc.edu/index.html. This site is dedicated to assisting residents become better educators by comparing their perception of themselves as teacher to their ideal teacher.

In summary:

Start with a small topic and build your knowledge base
Diagnose the gaps in your learners knowledge with probing questions
Create ways to communicate information and fill the learners knowledge gap

These are just some of the actions I have observed great clinicians-teachers perform. Has anyone dissected this further? Any thoughts, questions, comments would be appreciated!

Let’s start a conversation! Twitter: @melton_em.

The views expressed on this blog are the author's own and do not reflect the views of their employer. Please read our full disclaimer here. Any references to clinical cases refer to patients treated at a virtual hospital, Janus General Hospital.