Graduates' verdict on medical teachers: The minority who teach do it well

Abstract

Using a postal questionnaire, comments were invited from recent graduates on the teaching profile and performance of all teachers at an ‘innovative’ medical school which emphasizes problem-based learning. Of the 120 teachers involved in the survey, graduates considered 32 (27%) to have a very high profile, 18 (15%) a high profile, 29 (24% a low profile and 41 (34%) a very low profile. In a follow-up survey involving the teaching performance of 106 teachers, graduates considered 20 (19%) to be of very high quality, 64 (60%) of high quality, 21 (20%) of low quality and 1 (1%) of very low quality. These findings suggest that efforts to improve medical teaching should focus on helping low profile teachers to become more active rather than enhancing the performance of those who already teach.