Ripple effect of a clinical teaching fellow programme in an Australian paediatric hospital

Bedside teaching performed by experienced clinicians is an expected component of medical student training. As clinicians often have high clinical demands and a lack of formal training in teaching methods, clinical teaching fellowships have been established. In clinical teaching fellowships, clinicians with an interest and expertise in medical education provide medical students with standardised teaching. Studies about the impact of clinical teaching fellowships have demonstrated benefits for both clinical teaching fellows (CTFs) and medical students. However, studies have not evaluated the impact of these fellowships on other clinicians or learning relationships within the institution. In this study, we aimed to address this gap by gathering data on the perspectives of CTFs, medical students and hospital consultants.

A mixed-method design was used, utilising a combination of surveys for CTFs, medical students and hospital consultants and semi-structured telephone interviews for CTFs. Quantitative and qualitative data were obtained.

The combination of data from CTFs, medical students and consultants enabled a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of the CTF programme within the institution. Although benefits were identified for CTFs and medical students, the consultant group noted that they were less involved in teaching medical students and that the CTFs were not well integrated into the ward team.

This research highlights the importance of considering not only direct outcomes of teaching and learning but broader influences on more implicit teaching opportunities and relationships within hospital teams.