CLINICAL TEACHING ROUNDS - A CASE-ORIENTED FACULTY-DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Objective: To improve clinical teaching with emphasis on improving pro vision of feedback through a faculty development series modeled on cli nical rounds. Method: Seven 1-hour conferences were held for the pedia tric faculty during the academic year 1994-1995. Clinical rounds were emulated, with a simulated learner functioning as the patient with a c hief complaint of some instructional problem. The conferences progress ed from discussion about teaching in a particular situation, to videot apes of clinical teaching, and finally to live clinical teaching. Eval uation of the conferences was assessed by attendance records, particip ants' evaluations of the conferences, and comparing student and reside nt evaluations of faculty who attended (ie, those who attended greater than or equal to 2) with faculty who did not attend. Comparisons were made for the academic year before and after the conferences using pai red t tests. Results: Forty percent of the faculty attended 2 or more conferences. Mean conference ratings were 4.00 to 4.35, (1 is poor; 5, excellent). Faculty who attended had a significant improvement in rat ings for feedback (P=.01) and overall teaching effectiveness (P=.04). Ratings for faculty who did not attend did not change. Conclusion: The se conferences were well received by the faculty and are an effective way to improve clinical teaching.