An EPA for better Bedside Teaching

Bedside teaching (BST), a time-honoured tradition of clinical teaching which integrates theoretical knowledge and clinical practice, has declined steeply over the last decade. Moreover, many clinician teachers today are not specifically trained in and/or comfortable in delivering effective BST. Resucitating this valuable educational format may require a new approach to preparing teachers and setting the stage for effective BST. Framing BST as an entrustable professional activity (EPA) for teachers may be one strategy to enhance its application and quality.

We aimed to redefine, describe essential features and effective practices for high-quality BST, based on clinical teacher participant perspectives through a focus group discussion and open-ended questionnaires via e-mail, supplemented by insights from literature.

Based on data collected, we generated a definition of BST and a list of suggested strategies to optimise BST, for example, preparation, safe learning environment, flexible teaching and patient's benefits. A structured EPA description was created based on this definition.

Effective BST requires skilled clinical teachers who are comfortable and confident in this mode of teaching; framing BST as a teaching EPA could guide faculty development and clinical teacher certification.