Purpose. Bedside teaching (BST) of medical students has become less common in recent years; however, there have been strong recommendations made in the literature to continue this teaching modality for the valued benefits it provides. The purpose of the present study is to explore the perceptions and opinions of bedside teaching among senior Australian medical students. Methods. Medical students at Australian universities were surveyed by means of an electronic questionnaire. The results were collected and analysed. Results. A total of 517 responses were received from students at 15 universities and 94 different clinical sites. The percentage of students who identified BST as very important ranged from 62.5% in psychiatry to 90.4% in internal medicine. The optimal class size was nominated as 3-4 students, and students favoured a style where one individual performs a complete examination, with the remainder allowed to elicit the key sign afterwards. Students felt 3-4 hours of BST per week to be ideal. Advantages identified to BST included provision of feedback and elicitation of clinical signs. Disadvantages included time constraints and excessive class sizes. Conclusions. The unique benefits of BST result in its high demand by students, regardless of the discipline being taught. 1. Introduction Bedside teaching (BST), defined as when a clinician supervises a group of students at the patient’s bedside to elicit a history or physical signs, was once the most common form of medical student teaching [1]. It is currently, however, seen primarily as an adjunctive teaching method to classroom-based and informal teaching. Documented reasons for this include time constraints on tutors, increasing reliance on biochemical testing, medical imaging, and consultation of subspecialists [1–3]. Despite this, medical students still desire BST, and anecdotal reports have described declining amounts of this particular teaching modality and, in some centres, a total lack thereof. The opinions and perceptions of current medical students regarding this teaching modality, however, remain largely unpublished. The present study is the largest survey of students’ opinions and perceptions on BST, and it has targeted a multi-institutional population across the nation. Factors analysed included students’ opinions on optimal class size, time devoted to BST, and teaching style, as well as the importance of BST within various medical disciplines. 2. Methods Ethical approval was granted by the University of New South Wales Human Research and Ethics Advisory Panel (ref: AD 11066). 2.1.
References
[1]
C. P. Gale and R. P. Gale, “Is bedside teaching in cardiology necessary for the undergraduate education of medical students?” Medical Education, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 11–13, 2006.
[2]
M. D. Wenrich, M. B. Jackson, K. S. Ajam, I. H. Wolfhagen, P. G. Ramsey, and A. J. Scherpbier, “Teachers as learners: the effect of bedside teaching on the clinical skills of clinician-teachers,” Academic Medicine, vol. 86, no. 7, pp. 846–852, 2011.
[3]
K. N. Williams, S. Ramani, B. Fraser, and J. D. Orlander, “Improving bedside teaching: findings from a focus group study of learners,” Academic Medicine, vol. 83, no. 3, pp. 257–264, 2008.
[4]
Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand, Medical Student Statistics 2012, http://www.medicaldeans.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Table-1-Website-Stats-2012.pdf.
[5]
T. Raupach, S. Anders, T. Pukrop, G. Hasenfuss, and S. Harendza, “Effects of “minimally invasive curricular surgery”—a pilot intervention study to improve the quality of bedside teaching in medical education,” Medical Teacher, vol. 31, no. 9, pp. e425–e430, 2009.
[6]
S. Ramani, J. D. Orlander, L. Strunin, and T. W. Barber, “Whither bedside teaching? A focus-group study of clinical teachers,” Academic Medicine, vol. 78, no. 4, pp. 384–390, 2003.
[7]
A. M. Ahmed, “Bedside teaching at the cinderella status: options for promotion,” Saudi Medical Journal, vol. 31, no. 7, pp. 739–746, 2010.
[8]
M. D. Al-Mendalawi, “Medical student and patient perspectives on bedside teaching,” Saudi Medical Journal, vol. 31, no. 11, p. 1283, 2010.
[9]
C. M. Crumlish, M. A. Yialamas, and G. T. McMahon, “Quantification of bedside teaching by an academic hospitalist group,” Journal of Hospital Medicine, vol. 4, no. 5, pp. 304–307, 2009.
[10]
N. Kianmehr, M. Mofidi, R. Yazdanpanah, and M. A. Ahmadi, “Medical student and patient perspectives on bedside teaching,” Saudi Medical Journal, vol. 31, no. 5, pp. 565–568, 2010.
[11]
M. E. K. Ahmed, “What is happening to bedside clinical teaching?” Medical Education, vol. 36, no. 12, pp. 1185–1188, 2002.
[12]
R. H. Rao, “Perspectives in medical education: 1. Reflections on the state of medical education in Japan,” Keio Journal of Medicine, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 41–51, 2006.
[13]
L. Wen, H. Gould, J. T. Nagurney, and L. Wallis, “Perceptions of graduates from Africa’s first emergency medicine training program at the University of Cape Town/Stellenbosch University,” Canadian Journal of Emergency Medical Care, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 97–105, 2012.
[14]
S. W. Yusuf, “Bedside teaching of medical students,” American Journal of Medicine, vol. 118, no. 11, pp. 1304–1305, 2005.
[15]
S. Mookherjee and C. L. Chou, “Bedside teaching of clinical reasoning and evidence-based physical examination,” Medical Education, vol. 45, no. 5, pp. 508–535, 2011.
[16]
B. R. Nair, J. L. Coughlan, and M. J. Hensley, “Student and patient perspectives on bedside teaching,” Medical Education, vol. 31, no. 5, pp. 341–346, 1997.
[17]
A. Ingham, “The great wall of medical school,” Australian Medical Student Journal, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 5–8, 2011.
[18]
P. F. Weissmann, W. T. Branch, C. F. Gracey, P. Haidet, and R. M. Frankel, “Role modeling humanistic behavior: learning bedside manner from the experts,” Academic Medicine, vol. 81, no. 7, pp. 661–667, 2006.
[19]
Z. Qureshi and S. Maxwell, “Has bedside teaching had its day?” Advances in Health Sciences Education, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 301–304, 2012.
[20]
A. Z. Aldeen and M. A. Gisondi, “Bedside teaching in the emergency department,” Academic Emergency Medicine, vol. 13, no. 8, pp. 860–866, 2006.
[21]
Y. Marwan, M. Al-Saddique, A. Hassan, J. Karim, and M. Al-Saleh, “Are medical students accepted by patients in teaching hospitals?” Medical Education Online, vol. 17, Article ID 17172, 2012.
