Peer teaching of the physical exam: a pilot study

Summary BackgroundMastery of the physical exam (PE), and the ability to teach it to peers and medical students, are important milestones for residents (junior doctors); however, several reports indicate that PE skills are in decline. To address this need, we explored the use of peer observation of teaching (POT) as a conceptual framework to develop an innovative approach to PE teaching at the postgraduate medical education level. InnovationWe designed a PE POT session to be conducted at the patient bedside, and piloted four sessions in April 2014. Sessions involved a senior medicine resident teaching a focused PE to their team (consisting of two postgraduate first‐year residents), while being observed by a peer, followed by feedback anchored in 11 validated measures of clinical teaching. The sessions were completed in 30–35 minutes and were enthusiastically received by residents. Participants valued the interactive approach and the opportunity to exchange feedback with a peer on their PE teaching skills. ImplicationsThis pilot using POT methodology to teach the PE addressed mandatory core competencies related to patient care and practice‐based learning and improvement. Residents gained insights on their PE teaching skills while interacting with their peers in a novel and reciprocal learning opportunity. This experience helped participants to value their role as PE teachers and generate strategies to change their teaching behaviours. Despite this being a small study, P...
Source: The Clinical Teacher - Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Tags: Original Article Source Type: research