Faculty and house staff members as role models

In the fall of 1986 approximately 100 faculty members, community physicians, house staff members, and students associated with Indiana University School of Medicine participated in a conference on "Teachers as Role Models: The Impact on the Learning Process." Small-group discussions allowed the participants to define and discuss the impact of role-modeling in medical education. It was anticipated by the organizers that after the conference the participants would be more cognizant of their influence as role models and would be motivated to become better role models and support good role-modeling. A synopsis of the conference indicates that the participants identified both the positive and negative impact of role-modeling and concluded that medical educational programs should use positive role-modeling as a teaching tool to instill within students the desire to gain new knowledge and to apply that knowledge as medical professionals.