Identifying Teaching Methods Used by Clinical Instructors in Nuclear Medicine

Purpose To qualitatively address the teaching methods, effective pedagogy, feedback delivery, and perceived value of orientation workshops of nuclear medicine preceptors, also known as clinical instructors. Methods Open-ended interviews were conducted face-to-face and by email correspondence to collect data from 11 nuclear medicine clinical instructors in the southwestern United States. A case study method was used to obtain salient themes from the participants. Results Findings demonstrated that the most commonly used teaching styles were hands-on and observation. Participants described their self-perceived teaching skills as high quality, even though they had little or no formal teaching experience. Participants were not aware that students completed teaching evaluations, or they did not find value in the students' reviews. The participants perceived orientation workshops as a valuable option, identifying the following relevant topics: types of learners, communication skills, ethical situations, sensitivity training, and cultural competence. Discussion This study identified useful teaching methods, including feedback, to fill the existing gap in literature related to clinical instruction in nuclear medicine. Findings of this study indicate a need to better educate clinical instructors. One method for this is conducting orientation workshops that improve teaching method effectiveness, expand the educational experience of students, and strengthen the students' clinical skills. Conclusion A process that encourages awareness and change is needed to develop instructors' teaching skills in a clinical setting. The absence of review or responses to student feedback through teacher evaluation scores should be at the forefront of change, regardless of the teaching method employed.