TEACHING OF DOCTORS

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28821, 16 February 1959, Page 15

TEACHING OF DOCTORS

High Wastage Of Students , The Universities of New Zealand and Sydney shared the disgrace of having the highest wastage rate among medical students in pre-clinical years in the British Commonwealth, the secretary of the Australian College of General Practitioners (Dr. H. M. Saxby, of Sydney) told doctors attending the biennial conference of the New Zealand branch of the British Medical Association in Christchurch. “If the wastage rate ... is any -index, teaching is far from efficient,” he said. Dr. Saxby said that in some cases the wastage rate was more than 50 per cent, in pre-clinical years. “A review of teaching methods in the pre-clinical years is neces-' sarv and urgent. “Smaller classes, either by limitation of intake or the provision of more teachers and better facilities, appear to be the first steps. “Large classes with little or no personal contact between staff and student for three years are a completely inadequate introduction to the training for a learned profession,” he said. Clinical Years Dr. Saxby said that in the clinical years of training the wastage rate among students was within reasonable limits. Perhaps that was because only the better-equipped students had survived the deliberately difficult hurdles of the examination and those who had been successful had learned the essential necessity for self-instruction. “It seems, too, that clinical teaching, with its smaller groups and personal contacts, is of a higher quality,” he said. Dr. Saxby said that a peculiar anomaly of the teacher, in Australian medical schools at least, was that he had received a scant training in the art of teaching. School teachers at various levels, notwithstanding academic qualifications, were required to undergo a professional training in teaching; tutor sisters at hospital were taught how to teach nursing.

“Yet teachers of medicihe to Undergraduates are deemed, presumably, to possess some skill or instinct not granted to lesser men,” he said. “The formal teaching of medical teachers to teach is a matter which should be considered by our university authorities.” .