How residents perceive their teaching role in the clinical setting: a qualitative study

Residents play an important role in teaching and they consider teaching medical students as one of their primary responsibilities. Teaching is, however, limited due to lack of teaching skills and the time constraints involved in preparing and conducting teaching. Eighteen residents involved in teaching medical students and who took part in an initial study on teaching were interviewed on the perceived benefits of teaching and the role of residents in the teaching process. They also provided recommendations on how a training programme for residents could be created. The findings showed that enthusiasm and enjoying teaching were qualities of good teachers. Lack of time and support from attending staff were factors that contributed considerably to poor quality of teaching. There was a need for basic teaching skills and the recommendations provided included literature on teaching, training workshops, constructive evaluation and feedback and interactive sessions with experts.