The search for effective and efficient ambulatory teaching methods throughthe literature

Objective. Education in ambulatory settings is characterized by the conflic ting agendas of clinical efficiency and educational effectiveness. In recog nition of the challenge to teach more effectively, this review was undertak en to identify literature-based teaching methods for ambulatory-based educa tion. Design. Literature search resources included electronic databases and relev ant journal indices. After preliminary title/abstract review, final critica l review using a coding sheet was undertaken to define the teaching behavio r or characteristic in each article, and to evaluate empirical data related to effectiveness and/or efficiency. Results. Our literature search and subsequent article analysis yielded 11 c linical teaching methods, but no agreed upon descriptor or key features for these methods. Synthesis of this literature lead to succinct descriptions of each method and a label. Conclusions. There is limited evidence regarding the effectiveness of ambul atory teaching methods in cited literature. By establishing a common nomenc lature and descriptions for 11 methods, this review lays the foundation for investigators to systematically study the effectiveness and efficiency of ambulatory-focused clinical teaching methods both within and across special ties.