How I teach medical students as an attending physician

The General Professional Education of the Physician (GPEP) Report (1984) recommended a major re-examination of the clinical clerkship, so that medical students could master the basic skills of medicine before graduation. These include clinical observation, interviewing, physical examination, and problem-solving skills. This essay discusses the teaching approach of one attending physician during the third year ward clerkship in pediatrics. It describes how many of the goals of clinical medical education can be accomplished during the clerkship in a practical, realistic way. It is the only description about what happens during the teaching sessions of a clinical clerkship on a day by day basis in the medical literature. This approach may serve as a model for clinical teachers of medicine in the organization and planning of the clerkship experience.