Why do surgeons teach? A qualitative analysis of motivation in excellent surgical educators

Given that teaching is so vital to the maintenance of the medical profession, it is surprising that few authors have examined the factors which motivate physicians and surgeons to engage in this activity.

It was the aim of this study to examine the factors which motivate excellent surgical educators to teach.

Grounded theory methodology was used to analyze transcribed semi-structured interviews. The top 20 ranked surgical educators at the University of Alberta were invited to participate. In total, 15 surgeons of various specialties were interviewed.

There were five main factors which motivate surgeons to teach. These were: (1) a sense of responsibility to teach future physicians (2) an intrinsic enjoyment of teaching (3) the need to maintain and expand one's own knowledge base (4) watching students develop into competent practicing physicians and playing a role in their success, and (5) fostering positive lifelong professional relationships with learners.

This is the first study in surgery to use an explorative qualitative methodology. This framework of motivating factors can be used to guide professional development activities. The framework represents motivating factors for those known to be effective teachers only. We plan to use this information to engage more surgeons in teaching by providing a basis for promoting education as part of a busy surgical practice.