A Handbook for Clinical Teachers

Medical students are to a large extent taught by people who have undertaken little or no formal study in the field of education. Although formal study of any subject is no guarantee of satisfactory on-the-job performance, teaching practice itself without a knowledge of the fundamental princi- ples of education is likely to bring distortions into the teaching situation. Our own experience leads us to believe that many teachers are concerned at this lack of expertise. This concern is manifest by their willing participation in activities which provide them with practical assistance in improving their educational skills. Unfortunately, few books have been written to aid the average clinical teacher wishing to gain a perspective on basic educational principles or seeking suggestions on how these might be applied to teaching. A previous publication by the Advisory Centre for University Education (ACUE) at the University of Adelaide, entitled University Teaching, has proved to be very popular, both locally and overseas, and has clearly met the needs of organi- zers and participants in teacher training programmes in tertiary institutions. The success of this publication, and our experience with a variety of educational activities organized for staff of medical and dental schools and postgraduate organizations, led us to believe that a pragmatic educational guide for medical teachers would be of value to all such teachers and particularly to those asked to undertake an educational task for the first time.