Table 2.
Themes identified by interviews and focus groups
| Characteristics of a good clinical student | Characteristics of a good clinical teacher |
|---|---|
| Teachers | Teachers |
| Participates in learning/good attendance – 10 | Act as positive role models - 10 |
| Proactive – 5 | Develops relationship with students - 6 |
| Enthusiastic – 8 | Respects students - 5 |
| Mature/confident/not afraid to ask for help – 8 | Cares about students - 4 |
| Knowledgeable/skills competence – 7 | Promotes students’ participation in communities of practice - 6 |
| Communication skills – 6 | Makes time to teach -5 |
| Takes responsibility for learning/independent – 5 | Provides one-to-one teaching - 4 |
| Does not let exam pressures interfere with performance on attachment −5 | Interested and committed to teaching - 5 |
| Caring of patients/genuine – 4 | Provides feedback - 5 |
| Sense of vocation – 3 | Relevant to curricular stage - 2 |
| Team player – 3 | |
| Able to recognize position in hierarchy - 1 | |
| Should conform to norms of dress – 7 | |
| Avoid jeans, earings/piercings, bare midrifts/sexualized appearance | |
| Should become fluent in language of medicine/bilingual in being able to adjust language when talking to patients – 7 | |
| Students | Students |
| Participates in learning/good attendance – 3 | Act as positive role models – all 3 groups |
| Proactive – 3 | Develops relationships with students - 3 |
| Enthusiastic – 3 | Enthusiastic/appears to enjoy teaching/confident - 3 |
| Knowledgeable – 3 | Knowledgeable/technically competent - 3 |
| Able to take risks in a safe environment – 3 | Makes time to teach - 3 |
| Offer peer support – 3 | Provides relevant learning experiences - 2 |
| is promoted by shared experience and seen as an investment in the future | Promotes students’ abilities to take risks in safe environments - 2 |
| Confident – 2 | Supportive - 3 |
| Aware of limitations – 2 | Encouraging- 3 |
| Team player – 2 | Treat students with respect - 3 |
| Able to take criticism – 2 | Provide honest constructive feedback - 3 |
| Should conform to norms of dress – 3 | Provides feedback consistent with curricular stage - 2 |
| Students aware of overt pressure to conform to norms of dress – 3 | Genuine with patients, students and colleagues - 3 |
| Avoid casual dress, piercings, sexualized appearance – 3 | Good interpersonal skills - 2 |
| Promotes identification as medical student – 2 | Team player - 3 |
| Taken more seriously by ward staff −2 | Avoids humiliating students - 3 |
| Can hide behind clothes/make oneself look older – 2 | Has developed teaching skills - 2 |
| Can become less conformative as move up hierarchy – 2 | Appears to have a true vocation - 2 |
| Changing clothes is a method of switching off – 2 | Ability to listen - 2 |
| Should become fluent in language of medicine/bilingual in being able to adjust language when talking to patients – 3 | Sense of humour - 1 |
| Junior doctors and other Health Care Professionals as role models and mentors | |
| Teachers | Students |
| It is important for students to develop relationships with junior doctors who can act as role models and mentors – 5 | Junior doctors are able to empathise more with students - 3 |
| Students identify with junior doctors more easily – 4 | Can be more welcoming |
| It is important for students to develop relationships with other health care professionals – 5 | More approachable |
| Helps students learn about teamwork | More able to form relationships with students |
| Other Health Care professionals can be effective teachers and mentors - 2 | |
| Nurses provide mentoring for developing practical skills | |
| Useful source of practical knowledge | |
| Important to develop relationships with HCPs to facilitate teaching | |
| Recognition of importance of establishing relationships to facilitate learning | |
| HCP, especially nurse teaching helps boost confidence and makes student feel part of team | |