How Medical Students and Residents Describe the Roles and Characteristics of Their Influential Clinical Teachers

Abstract

Medical students and residents differ substantially in their perceptions of the roles and characteristics of their influential clinical teachers. The results in this study corroborate Stritter's learning vector theory. Thus, learners' perceptions of the value of their teachers' behaviors change during their professional development. These perceptual changes may explain why medical students and residents assess the same faculty's teaching very differently. These results also support the need to prepare clinical faculty differently for working with medical students as compared with residents.