Formal testing of clinical teaching

Written testing as a teaching tool in medical residency education is uncommon. Residents often complain that they receive little instruction on inpatient rounds, despite faculty assertions that much teaching is done in the context of patient care. Attendings frequently desire to enhance the quality of their instruction while providing more feedback to their residents. We decided to evaluate the efficacy of our teaching methods and provide objective feedback to our housestaff through formal testing. Since 1988 we have periodically given written multiple‐choice question examinations to residents at the conclusion of their rotation on the General Medicine inpatient service. More recently we have also given quarterly quizzes to housestaff attending the weekly Ambulatory Care conference. Questions for the ward examination are written by the attending based on topics discussed during rounds, whereas conference quiz questions are submitted by the various lecturers. The examinations consist of roughly 25 items ea...