Evaluation and consequences of teaching competence: Scandinavian developments

Provision of health care, research and teaching are three major activities common to all medical schools. In spite of the fact that most medical schools emphasize the importance of basic education in their programme, both teachers and students point out that in reality teaching ability and experience are of little significance when academic positions are filled. A common objection to attaching a higher value to teaching competence is that teaching skills cannot be systematically and reliably evaluated. However, experience throughout the world shows that there are various methods of evaluating and considering teaching ability. Activities initiated in Scandinavia highlight concrete methods of considering the qualitative aspects of teaching skills with the basic point of view that there are great similarities between the processes of evaluating scientific and teaching competence. In this article the results of a survey of medical schools in Scandinavia on the relative importance of scientific and teaching merit are reported. Subsequent developments are provided from a task force working under the auspices of the Nordic Federation for Medical Education as well as from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Suggestions are included for evaluation of teaching skills, including qualitative and subjective considerations. Arguments for increasing the value accorded to such skills are advanced and discussed.