Introduction of the One-Minute Preceptor Model for Teaching Pathology Postgraduate Students

A one-minute preceptor (OMP) is a time-effective teaching method commonly used in clinical settings and is a preferred teaching method by students. It comprises five micro skills with a recent addition of a sixth micro skill. It has been utilized less commonly in paraclinical departments, with occasional studies from Anatomy and Pathology.

This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Pathology, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, for a period of three months. It included 11 postgraduate pathology residents and seven faculty members who were sensitized to OMP followed by the conduction of OMP sessions. Perceptions of postgraduate students and faculty regarding OMP were recorded using Google Forms on a five-point Likert scale. The satisfaction index was calculated for the perceptions of postgraduate students and faculty. In-depth interviews were also conducted with postgraduate residents and faculty.

All residents (11/11, 100%) and faculty members (7/7, 100%) reported that they first learned about the One-Minute Preceptor (OMP) during the introductory lecture of this study, and all residents (11, 100%) and faculty members (7, 100%) enjoyed slide-based teaching using this method. All residents (11, 100%) agreed that OMP helped build confidence, improved presentation, analytical, and reasoning skills in slide diagnosis, provided constructive feedback that enhanced learning, motivated self-directed learning, and was less threatening than the traditional slide-teaching method. Ten residents (10, 90.9%) agreed that OMP should be incorporated into regular teaching. All faculty members (7, 100%) agreed that OMP increased interaction between faculty and residents, improved residents' analytical skills, provided opportunities for feedback, and should be adopted as a regular teaching method.

OMP is a very efficient and effective teaching tool that has been used in clinical departments for teaching students for quite some time, but its use in paraclinical departments is limited. Some paraclinical departments are still not familiar with this method and need an introduction to this student-friendly and learner-centered teaching method. It can be used for Pathology slide teaching even during busy reporting days.