An analysis of ambulatory teaching situations for faculty development

Economic, social, and medical trends are forcing medical educators to look to the ambulatory care setting as a training site for medical students and residents. The purpose of this study was to identify the variables that clinical faculty perceive to influence the ease or difficulty of teaching in the ambulatory setting. Faculty having teaching responsibilities in the ambulatory setting were asked to complete teaching situation cards related to either an “easy teaching situation”; or a “difficult teaching situation.”; Faculty identified several major characteristics that contributed to easy teaching situations including the medical student or resident and the patient. The variables that faculty perceived as contributing to difficult teaching situations included the medical student's or resident's lack of receptiveness to feedback from the instructor, lack of interest, and incompetence. Implications of the findings for faculty development efforts to improve teaching in the ambulatory setting are reported.