Master, mentor, supervisor, facilitator, or all of the above—somewhere in this list lies the role of the inpatient teacher, perhaps the most intense assignment clinician-educators are asked to assume. Always challenging, inpatient teaching currently must meet requirements and regulations that did not even exist years ago. Today's handbook of inpatient teaching includes chapters written by (1) the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) governing training experiences and working conditions for residents; (2) managed care organizations and hospital utilization committees establishing guidelines for admissions, length of stay, and utilization of diagnostic tests, consultations, and other resources; and (3) the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) and other third-party payers setting forth requirements that affect the level of the attending physicians’ involvement in patient care and the allocation of their time, and at least indirectly, housestaff responsibility and learning.