Teaching the resident in internal medicine. Present practices and suggestions for the future

There appears to be a trend to move clinical teaching from bedside to conference room. While much emphasis is placed on conducting teaching rounds, no one asks how they are conducted. To evaluate how teaching is done, questionnaires on composition of teaching services and management of rounds including resident, patient care, attending, and teaching rounds were sent to 463 medicine residency programs. Responses were solicited from the program directors and chief residents. Two hundred twenty-one responded, but only for 123 programs did both the program director and the chief resident respond; these 123 programs formed the basis of our study. Fifteen percent of teaching rounds were held only in conference rooms, while 77% were made both at bedside and in conference rooms. The figures for attending rounds were 7% and 74%, respectively. Our data indicate a trend away from bedside teaching to the conference room.