How to… teach

Teaching junior colleagues has been considered part of the role of a doctor since the time of Hippocrates, when the new practitioner swore to ‘To consider dear to me, as my parents, him who taught me this art’. In the United Kingdom, the General Medical Council states ‘Teaching, training, appraising and assessing doctors and students are important for the care of patients now and in the future. You should be willing to contribute to these activities. If you are involved in teaching you must develop the skills, attitudes and practices of a competent teacher’. Most clinicians are happy to accept this responsibility but are often not confident about their skills, attitudes and practices as a teacher. The first occasion when I taught a group of medical students is etched in my brain—I am sure I was more apprehensive than them!