General surgical interns contributing to the clerkship learning environment of medical students

Background: Junior doctors are increasingly promoted as clinical teachers but there is limited understanding of how they contribute to medical student clerkship learning. Aim: To describe contributions made by general surgical interns to the student clerkship learning environment. Methods: The mixed-methods study involved two focus groups attended by volunteer interns and Year 4 students, and a student questionnaire collecting quantitative data. Focus group transcripts were evaluated using a qualitative analysis system. Results: Six interns and five students attended focus groups in June and August 2011. Qualitative analysis found that intern contributions to student learning can be grouped under four distinct roles: physician, supervisor, teacher and person. Data from 85 questionnaires (response rate 57%) revealed that intern-student encounters occurred daily in the surgical wards and emergency department. Interns demonstrated bedside procedures, clerical/administrative tasks and interpretation of laboratory and radiological investigations. Appreciated for approachability, friendliness and ability to relate to students, interns also played a crucial role in integrating students into the surgical team. This significantly correlated to clerkship enjoyment. Conclusions: Surgical interns improve clerkship learning environments by demonstrating "personal" skills such as friendliness, approachability and relatedness. This has important implications for preparing interns as clinical preceptors.