Perceived differences in the importance and frequency of practice of clinical teaching behaviors

The purpose of this study was to identify whether or not discrepancies existed between the importance of clinical teaching behaviors and the frequency with which those behaviors were practiced in the clinical setting. Surveys listing clinical teaching behaviors were distributed to preceptors and their students. Both groups completed the survey twice, ranking their perception of the importance of each behavior, as well as the frequency with which it was practiced in the clinical setting. Four different allied health disciplines from four, four-year undergraduate institutions in Ohio participated in the study. Means and standard deviations were calculated for each item. Two-tailed t-tests were applied to each set of responses, with p < 0.05 considered statistically significant. Results revealed that while both students and preceptors agreed on the importance of the items, they differed significantly (p < 0.05) with regard to the frequency with which effective clinical teaching behaviors were practiced.