Complementary value of traditional bedside teaching and structured clinical teaching in introductory surgical studies

A prospective randomized trial was conducted to see if student performance in a combined multiple choice and objective structured clinical examination was better following a period of structured clinical teaching compared with traditional bedside teaching. Student groups were crossed over in a second phase of the experiment to allow the two teaching techniques to be compared sequentially in the same group. There was no significant difference between the two teaching techniques as measured by performance in a criterion-referenced examination. The results of the study led to modification of the curriculum for third-year introductory surgical studies to incorporate both teaching strategies, which are regarded as complementary in value.