Faculty Development Seminars Based on the One‐Minute Preceptor Improve Feedback in the Ambulatory Setting

OBJECTIVE: While several models of medical student instruction in the ambulatory setting exist, few have been formally studied. We wished to assess the impact of a faculty development workshop based on the One‐Minute Preceptor model on the amount and quality of feedback in the outpatient setting. DESIGN: Ambulatory teaching behaviors were studied during consecutive outpatient precepting sessions before and after 3 faculty development workshops. Student–teacher interactions were assessed using audiotapes of teaching encounters coded through qualitative techniques, and surveys of teacher, learner, and patient satisfaction. SETTING: Ambulatory internal medicine clinic in a tertiary care medical center. PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: Nine board‐certified internist faculty preceptors and 44 third‐year medical students. INTERVENTIONS: Three 90‐minute faculty development seminars based on the One‐Minute Preceptor teaching model. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Ninety‐four encounters with 18,577 utterances were recorded , half before and half after the seminars. After the workshops, the proportion of utterances that contained feedback increased from 17% to 22% ( P = .09) and was more likely to be specific (9% vs 15%; P = .02). After the workshops, teachers reported that the learning encounters were more successful ( P = .03) and that they were better at letting the students reach their own Conclusions ( P = .001), at evaluating the learners ( P = .03), and at creating plans for post‐encounter learning ( P = .02). The workshops had no effect on the duration of the student–teacher encounter or on student or patient satisfaction with the encounters. CONCLUSIONS: Brief, interactive, faculty development workshops based on the One‐Minute Preceptor model of clinical teaching resulted in modest improvements in the quality of feedback delivered in the ambulatory setting.