Teaching Medical Students, what do Consultants think?

The approach to and delivery of medical student education has undergone significant change within the last decade. There has been a shift away from didactic lectures to small group tutorials, facilitated by clinicians. Anecdotally there is an impression that enthusiasm for teaching is waning. The aim of this qualitative study is to assess the current attitudes of consultants, across all specialities, to teaching medical students in small group settings.

A Likert scale questionnaire, relating to teaching medical students in small group tutorials, was distributed via email to all consultants working in one region. Questions considered the categories: attitudes to teaching, financial considerations, time constraints and attitudes to students.

367 responses were received. 72% of responders were actively involved in teaching. 72% of respondents indicated that medical students should be taught by consultants and 80% felt that teaching medical students was enjoyable. 60% felt they were not financially remunerated for teaching and 50% indicated teaching was not included in job plans; despite this a significant proportion of these respondents remain involved in teaching (68%). Non-teachers were more likely to indicate that teaching was not paid for (p=0.003). 78% indicated consultants do not have adequate time to teach medical students. 82% felt that medical students appreciate consultant led teaching but only 55% felt students had an appropriate level of enthusiasm for learning.

Consultants in this Deanery are actively involved in medical student teaching and enjoy it. Consultants perceive that they are not adequately financially rewarded but for the most part this is not a deterrent. Time constraints are an issue and there is a desire to have teaching included in job plans to counteract this. Most consultants are complimentary about student attitudes but there is a perception that medical students need to contribute more to their own learning.