Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Residents provide a significant amount of bedside teaching to medical students and more junior colleagues, but often do not receive feedback that is tailored to this aspect of their professional performance. OBJECTIVE: To assess residents' self-reported improvement in teaching skills after feedback based on direct observation of work rounds. METHOD: The authors initiated a program of direct observation of residents' teaching during work rounds during the academic year 2007-2008. Eleven interested faculty volunteers, including chief residents, observed teaching on work rounds by 18 second-year residents in internal medicine during 35 total encounters. Within 24 hours, the faculty observers provided individualized feedback to the resident teachers regarding the quantity and quality of their teaching based on the data collected with the Teaching on Work Rounds observation form. At the end of the year, a survey was conducted to assess the residents' receptivity to this program. RESULTS: Each observation averaged 92 minutes per observer, for 81.5 recorded hours of observations. Eighty percent of the residents felt that they were better teachers because of the feedback they received, and 87% subsequently reported having made conscious changes in their teaching during work rounds. DISCUSSION: A direct observation program of residents' teaching on work rounds improved residents' interest in teaching while motivating them to make conscious changes in their teaching based on the individualized feedback they received.