Analyzing the teaching skills of interns to assess the quality of teaching

Abstract

Purpose: To analyze the level of teaching skills of interns so appropriate measures can be taken if required to improve the standard of teaching.

 Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted at University College of Dentistry, The University of Lahore from April to June 2017.The Medical Education Teaching Readiness Questionnaire (METRQ) was used to assess how different experiences contributed to respondent’s knowledge, skills and attitudes of medical teaching. 50 First Year Interns (n=50) were requested to fill out the questionnaire and the results were analyzed statistically using SPSS 21.

 Results: 40(80%) interns thought the acquisition of basic teaching skills such as planning what to teach was extremely important however they were not prepared well enough to teach. Observing their teachers was extremely helpful for skill development for 38 (76%) respondents while receiving feedback on their own teaching was helpful for only 1 (2%) respondent. Most of the parameters judged as teaching characteristics such as enthusiasm, motivation, competence etc. took a dip at the time of graduation. The same characteristics showed markedly better values after gaining some teaching experience during internship.

 Conclusion: METRQ can act as an important tool to conduct needs assessment for designing teacher-training programs or for assessing the current status of individuals who are teaching in the health professions. Teacher training programs are the need of the hour so teaching quality and in turn the quality of education can be improved.