Search results

Recent policy in postgraduate medical examination (PGME) in the United Kingdom (UK) has favoured a diminution of the experiential dimension of learning through reduced patient contact time. In this changing learning environment, the author describes research into attitudes of trainees to the hospital working round as an instruction of learning in PGME. In an interview study, a description and preliminary analysis of junior doctors' thoughts was made, with respect to factors enhancing the learning experience of hospital working rounds. The subjects discussed factors making a 'good teacher' and were asked what, already with many years experience of rounds, would they do to make such activities a valuable learning experience when they themselves achieve consultant status. There were many qualities of a good teacher, which might have been predicted from learning theory, but it became clear that many of the features of a good learning experience were also dependent on the trainee's opinion of the clinical professionalism of the consultant. Enough common categories were found in this preliminary analysis to be useful in a larger-scale program, perhaps using structured interviews.