MEDICAL EDUCATION

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Notes for the Primary Care Teachers
TIPS FOR THE NEW MEDICAL TEACHER

TIP 5:  IMPROVE YOUR PERSONAL MANAGEMENT SKILLS.

Teachers tend to lead busy lives and personal coping strategies need to be in place as one embarks in this challenging career pathway. These include:

1. Self and stress management techniques
2. Efficient time management – acquiring skills in prioritising may help to expedite chores
3. Communication skills – teaching involves a lot of oral and written communication. Taking courses in this area may prove beneficial.

TIP 6:  GET YOURSELF A MENTOR IN TEACHING.

This is normally a colleague with more experience and technical know-how in teaching. One can learn a lot by observing a mentor’s teaching sessions and learning from his or her experiences.

TIP 7: CONTINUE READING AND UPDATING YOURSELF WITH MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE.

You do not want the students to out-smart you too much!

TIP 8: BE CONFIDENT.

You do not have to know everything. Should you not know the answer to a question, admit it and encourage the students to get the answer themselves. This encourages independent learning.

TIP 9:  BE INSPIRED BY THE REWARDS THAT YOU GET FROM TEACHING.

Work and the responsibilities of a family medicine teacher can be a great deal but many teachers can vouch that it is very rewarding indeed.
The presence of students in family clinics brings some change to the monotony of running a clinic, as well as keeps doctors on their toes to keep up with knowledge in medicine. Teachers also develop strong friendships with trainees, which may later turn into strong comradeship between fellow doctors.

In universities, interaction with other medical teaching colleagues can be refreshing and intellectually stimulating. It can also be a heartwarming experience to receive thank-you notes or even words of gratitude from young doctors that have graduated through your tireless efforts!

TIP 10:  KNOW RESOURCES FOR NEW TEACHERS AND WHERE TO GET HELP.

There are an abundance of resources and reading material for teachers in family medicine. Listed below are some useful internet resources:

1. Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM). http://www.stfm.org
2. Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE). http://www.amee.org
3. WWAMI Clinical Teaching Handbook. http://clerkship.fammed.washington.edu/teaching

 
CONCLUSION

From our personal experiences, being a medical teacher can be a good career option for family doctors. Well-informed decision-making and efforts in teaching skills acquisition would make teaching tasks easier – leading to an excellent and rewarding career pathway.

References

1. Goldacre M, Stear S, Richards R,et al. Junior doctors' views about careers in academic medicine. Med Educ. 1999;33(5):318­26 [PubMed]
2. Hays R. Developing as a health professional educator: pathways and choices. The Clinical Teacher. 2007;4(1):46-50 [Link]
3. Harden RM, Crosby J. AMEE Education Guide No 20. The good teacher is more than a lecturer ― the twelve roles of a teacher. Medical Teacher. 2000; 22:334-47 [Link]
4. Amin Z, Eng KH. Basics in Medical Education. Singapore: World Scientific; 2002.
5. Parsell G, Bligh J. Recent perspectives on clinical teaching. Med Educ. 2001;35(4):409-14 [PubMed]