34 | JADE
DAVID S BLANCHARD AND ELIOT REES
Tip 6: Teach all undergraduate medical students basic teaching theory and skills
As doctors have a professional obligation to teach( GMC 2009, 2011) there is a clear need for medical students to be taught how to teach and it has been suggested that the acquisition of such teaching skills should commence within the undergraduate curriculum( Dandavino et al 2007, Lockspeiser et al 2008, Amorosa et al 2011, Silbert & Lake 2012). Medical students involved in peer-teaching have requested instruction on how to teach( Lockspeiser et al, 2008) and provision of basic educational training for students who teach other students has been suggested( Wadoodi and Crosby 2002, Dandavino et al 2007, Ross & Cameron 2007). Such a programme should provide students with knowledge of the basic principles of teaching, improve teaching skills and reduce anxiety related to future teaching responsibilities( Dandavino et al 2007). There are already established teaching courses which form compulsory parts of some medical courses( Zijdenbos et al 2011) but this is rare within the UK( Burgess et al 2014).
At Keele, in order to provide the opportunity for undergraduate students to develop teaching skills, we have piloted a new Teaching Student Teachers( TST) course with the aim of eventually establishing it within the undergraduate curriculum.
Tip 7: Provide opportunities for faculty observed peerteaching within the curriculum
Although Dandavino et al( 2007) argued that students should practice their teaching skills with‘ an appropriate balance of support and independence’ there are few published examples of students teaching within the nurturing environment of the undergraduate curriculum( Burgess et al 2014). At Keele we felt that if we were to teach students teaching skills, then we must also provide opportunities for those skills to be practiced in a safe educational environment with appropriate monitoring and feedback. To this end we have established, especially in the fifth year of the course, sessions within the curriculum where teaching by students can take place and be observed by faculty members so that developmental feedback can be provided. At present this includes optional student sign-ups to lead clinical and communication skills sessions and ward induction and orientation meetings between students.