Medical Students' Perceptions of Resident Teaching

Since the implementation of duty hours regulations (DHR), there has been a great deal of discussion about their effect on surgical education. These regulations were designed to enhance patient safety, resident education, and resident working conditions.1 Researchers have been interested in the effects of DHR on continuity of patient care and resident education,2 and studies have demonstrated the positive impact that DHR has had on patient care3,4 and resident quality of life.2,5 Furthermore, early studies of resident operative experience have indicated that DHR have had no impact on the number of operative procedures residents perform.6,7 Surgical programs have seemingly maintained or enhanced resident education after DHR, and to date, no substantial decrease in clinical or operative experience has been documented.2 In addition to evaluating the effects on resident education, it is important to study the impact of the ACGME's DHR mandate on student education. Surgical residents play a crucial role in educating medical students. It has been shown that students are more satisfied with their clerkship experience when residents actively fulfill their teaching role.8 Many medical and surgical educators have studied clinical teaching roles and teaching effectiveness.9–12 An exploration of learners’ perceptions of the clinical teaching role has yielded a model describing 4 roles of the clinical teacher: The teacher role—being interested in teaching, making an effort to teach, being available and spending time with the resident, explaining, discussing and answering questions. Instructor as a person—supportive, easy and fun to work with, helpful, and friendly. The physician role—the clinical teacher is knowledgeable and clinically competent, is seen as a role model, has good rapport with patients, and has an appropriate attitude. The supervisor role—the clinical teacher gives the resident responsibility for patient care and opportunities to do procedures, involves the resident, and reviews patients with the resident.12 In evaluating the effects that DHR have had on surgical education, medical students’ experiences cannot be overlooked. The purpose of this study is to describe medical students’ perceptions about surgical residents as teachers and examine students’ perceptions before and after the implementation of DHR.