General surgical interns contributing to the clerkship learning environment of medical students

Junior doctors are increasingly promoted as clinical teachers but there is limited understanding of how they contribute to medical student clerkship learning.

To describe contributions made by general surgical interns to the student clerkship learning environment.

The mixed-methods study involved two focus groups attended by volunteer interns and Year 4 students, and a student questionnaire collecting quantitative data. Focus group transcripts were evaluated using a qualitative analysis system.

Six interns and five students attended focus groups in June and August 2011. Qualitative analysis found that intern contributions to student learning can be grouped under four distinct roles: physician, supervisor, teacher and person. Data from 85 questionnaires (response rate 57%) revealed that intern-student encounters occurred daily in the surgical wards and emergency department. Interns demonstrated bedside procedures, clerical/administrative tasks and interpretation of laboratory and radiological investigations. Appreciated for approachability, friendliness and ability to relate to students, interns also played a crucial role in integrating students into the surgical team. This significantly correlated to clerkship enjoyment.

Surgical interns improve clerkship learning environments by demonstrating "personal" skills such as friendliness, approachability and relatedness. This has important implications for preparing interns as clinical preceptors.