A survey of resident perceptions of effective teaching behaviors

Family practice has shown increasing interest in clarifying what constitutes effective teaching skills. This investigation enlists the support of family practice residents to further clarify which teaching behaviors and skills most significantly contribute to their medical education. Family practice residents in all 24 programs in Ohio were surveyed to determine their perceptions of the effectiveness of 38 separate clinical teaching behaviors. A rank order listing of these behaviors is presented to aid in organized faculty development programs, as well as to provide guidelines individual faculty can follow to improve family practice resident education. Factor analysis of the residents' responses indicate that clinical competence, providing constructive feedback to residents, and demonstrating a positive attitude toward teaching residents are perceived as necessary attributes of the most effective clinical teachers.