Promoting excellence in teaching and learning in clinical education

Clinical learning is the essence of medical education. Many factors have been demonstrated to influence students' development of clinical competence. These factors include students' exposure to a large volume and variety of clinical experiences, learning in authentic clinical settings, self-directed learning, and the provision of a supportive environment. Clinical teachers have an extremely important role in the effectiveness of clinical education in supporting learners, encouraging reflection, and providing constructive and regular feedback. Early and frequent clinical experiences should be planned and integrated in curricula. The provision of such opportunities is associated with the development of appropriate attitudes and the acquisition of commendation and diagnostic skills among undergraduate medical students. The experiences of undergraduate medical students at clinical venues should be documented to enable monitoring of the quality of their exposure and planning for appropriate interventions. The combination of teaching in family practice centers and hospitals will probably provide the most effective approach and will combine the recognized advantages from different sites. The recent challenges facing the health care system necessitate the need for innovative teaching strategies, such as simulation, to meet the inadequacy of clinical cases at the teaching sites. The quality of clinical teaching should be maintained through regular evaluations of clinical teachers and all teaching activities. This article addresses the possible factors that could affect the process of student learning and suggests measures to promote the quality of clinical teaching and learning.