Biomedical subjects

Subha Ramani

Publications and source records attributed to Subha Ramani.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Twelve tips to promote excellence in medical teaching.

For medical teachers around the world, teaching duties have expanded beyond the classroom and include teaching small groups, assessment, providing instructional materials beyond the syllabus, problem-based learning, learner-centred teaching, clinical teaching on-the-fly--and the list goes on. Faculty development is essential to train medical faculty in essential educational theory and specific teaching skills as well as to encourage a flexible and learner-centred approach to teaching. Finally, self-reflection and critique of teaching techniques are vital to propel medical schools towards promoting and aiming for uncompromising excellence in medical education. The twelve tips described in this article relating to educating teachers, evaluating teaching and eradicating institutional apathy are simple measures that educational leaders can apply to promote excellence in teaching at their parent institutions. The tips introduce a multi-dimensional approach to improving the overall quality of medical education consisting of measures aimed at individual teachers and those aimed at overhauling the teaching climate at medical institutions.

Culture↗

PubMed2006

Twelve tips for developing effective mentors.

Mentoring is often identified as a crucial step in achieving career success. However, not all medical trainees or educators recognize the value of a mentoring relationship. Since medical educators rarely receive training on the mentoring process, they are often ill equipped to face challenges when taking on major mentoring responsibilities. This article is based on half-day workshops presented at the 11th Ottawa International Conference on Medical Education in Barcelona on 5 July 2004 and the annual meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges in Boston on 10 November 2004 as well as a review of literature. Thirteen medical faculty participated in the former and 30 in the latter. Most participants held leadership positions at their institutions and mentored trainees as well as supervised mentoring programs. The workshops reviewed skills of mentoring and strategies for designing effective mentoring programs. Participants engaged in brainstorming and interactive discussions to: (a) review different types of mentoring programs; (b) discuss measures of success and failure of mentoring relationships and programs; and (c) examine the influence of gender and cultural differences on mentoring. Participants were also asked to develop an implementation plan for a mentoring program for medical students and faculty. They had to identify student and faculty mentoring needs, and describe methods to recruit mentors as well as institutional reward systems to encourage and support mentoring.

Cultural Diversity↗

PubMed2004

Promoting the art of history taking.

The patient history is a vital piece of the physician-patient encounter and helps lead to the final diagnosis about 75% of the time. Skilled history taking is reported to be declining among medical trainees and many educators believe current educational methods do not emphasize these skills during medical school training. Current assessment methods, including the OSCE (objective structured clinical exam), may not be testing history-taking skills comprehensively. There are simple and practical approaches to emphasize the importance of history taking in clinical teaching.

Education, Medical↗

PubMed2003

Twelve tips to improve bedside teaching.

Bedside teaching has long been considered the most effective method to teach clinical skills and communication skills. Despite this belief, the frequency of bedside rounds is decreasing and it is believed that this is a major factor causing a sharp decline in trainees' clinical skills. Several barriers appear to contribute to this lack of teaching at the bedside and have been discussed extensively in the literature. Concern about trainees' clinical skills has led organizations such as the American Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the WHO Advisory Committee on Medical training to recommend that training programs should increase the frequency of bedside teaching in their clinical curricula. Although obstacles to bedside teaching are acknowledged, this article in the '12 tips' series is a detailed description of teaching strategies that could facilitate a return to the bedside for clinical teaching.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed2003

Whither bedside teaching? A focus-group study of clinical teachers.

PURPOSE: Previous reports document diminishing time spent on bedside teaching, with a shift towards conference rooms and corridors. This study explored faculty's perceptions of the barriers to and their strategies for increasing and improving bedside teaching. METHOD: Four focus groups consisting of (1) chief residents, (2) residency program directors, (3) skilled bedside teachers, and (4) a convenience group of other Department of Medicine faculty from the Boston University School of Medicine's affiliated hospitals were held in May 1998. Each session lasted 60-90 minutes. Sessions were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using qualitative methods. RESULTS: The most significant barriers reported were (1) declining bedside teaching skills; (2) the aura of bedside teaching, a belief that bedside teachers should possess an almost unattainable level of diagnostic skill that creates intense performance pressure; (3) that teaching is not valued; and (4) erosion of teaching ethic. Focus-group participants suggested the following strategies for addressing these barriers: improve bedside teaching skills through faculty training in clinical skills and teaching methods; reassure clinical faculty that they possess more than adequate bedside skills to educate trainees; establish a learning climate that allows teachers to admit their limitations; and address the undervaluing of teaching on a department level with adequate recognition and rewards for teaching efforts. Skilled teachers, in particular, stated that a bedside teaching ethic could be reestablished by emphasizing its importance and challenging learners to think clinically. CONCLUSIONS: Bedside teaching is regarded as valuable. Some barriers may be overcome by setting realistic faculty expectations, providing incentives for teaching faculty, and establishing ongoing faculty development programs.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗