This book is intended for those who are now, and those who intend to become, clinical teachers in the health professions. Its primary focus is the teaching of medical students and residents, but the principles discussed apply equally to teaching students in other health professions. The main focus is on the process of teaching--the strategies and tactics involved in helping others learn--and the authors discuss the generic steps, strategies, and principles of effective teaching that apply in any clinical setting. They do, however, draw numerous examples from clinical education in a variety of settings.
The authors specifically stress the notion of collaboration, an issue closely related to the public's considerable dissatisfaction with the modern health care system. to create a more effective, responsive system, they argue, there is a need to change the ways that health care is provided and the way it is taught. A collaborative approach is needed in both health care and medical education, one that involves partnerships between clinicians and patients, and between teachers and learners. Also prominent throughout the book is the idea that clinical education can be planned and conducted in far more systematic ways than is now common. An overarching goal of the book is to provide readers with an enlarged set of options to consider using when faced with the inevitable multiciplicity of decisions confronting cllinical educators.