Characteristics of family physicians’ clinical teaching behaviors in the ambulatory setting: A descriptive study

Abstract

The one‐on‐one encounter between the physician teacher and the learner is the major clinical teaching vehicle in the ambulatory setting. Few medical educators have observed the encounter for its length; frequency and types of physician teaching behaviors; or the pattern of the encounter—relying instead on perceptions of the outcomes of the teaching/learning process. The purpose of this study was to describe the instructional activities occurring in physician‐learner encounters. Sixteen family physicians were observed performing 10 teaching encounters each. A clinical observation instrument captured and categorized 17 clinical teaching and nonteaching behaviors. The results of the study suggest that the encounter is driven by the patient and that little attention is focused on traditional elements of instruction such as setting expectations and giving feedback.