MANUSCRIPT: Qualities of an effective teacher: what do medical teachers think?
Results
The top three desirable qualities of an effective teacher in our study were knowledge of
subject, enthusiasm and communication skills. Faculty with longer teaching experienced
ranked classroom behaviour/instructional delivery higher than their less experienced
counterparts. There was no difference of perspectives based on cultural background, gender
or discipline (medicine and dentistry).Conclusion
This study found that the faculty perspectives were similar, regardless of the discipline,
gender and cultural background. Furthermore, on review of literature similar findings are
seen in studies done in allied medical and non-medical fields. These findings support
common teacher training programs for the teachers of all disciplines, rather than having
separate training programs exclusively for medical teachers. Logistically, this would make it
much easier to arrange such programs in universities or colleges with different faculties or
disciplines.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1472-6920-13-128.pdf
Written by Brian S McGowan, PhD
Brian is a research scientist and educational technologist. He helped transform Pfizer’s Medical Education Group and previously served in educational leadership roles at HealthAnswers, Inc.; Acumentis, LLC.; Cephalon; and Wyeth. He taught graduate medical education programs at Arcadia University for 10 years. Dr. McGowan recently authored the book "#socialQI: Simple Solutions for Improving Your Healthcare" and has been invited to speak internationally on the subject of information flow, technology, and learning in healthcare.
