Teaching residents how to teach improves quality of clerkship

Objective: To evaluate the impact of a resident's teaching skills workshop on the ratings of the obstetrics and gynecology clerkship by third-year medical students. Study design: The 6-week obstetrics and gynecology clerkship at the University of Michigan is provided at 4 different sites including the University of Michigan Hospital. At the end of each rotation, medical students complete an evaluation form assessing various aspects of their learning experience, including the overall quality of clerkship. A workshop, "Teaching Residents How to Teach," was conducted at the University of Michigan Hospital, whereas the other 3 sites served as the control. Clerkship evaluations were compared before and after the workshop using Student t test. Results: Students at the University of Michigan Hospital rated all items on the evaluation form higher after the teaching workshop. The overall quality of the clerkship at the University of Michigan Hospital improved (P = .05), whereas the other sites remained stable. Conclusions: A "Teaching the Residents How to Teach" workshop improves the overall quality of the clerkship. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.