Characteristics of good clinical teachers in anesthesiology from medical students' perspective: a qualitative descriptive study

Purpose Learning needs are influenced by the stage of learning and medical specialty. We sought to investigate the characteristics of a good clinical teacher in anesthesiology from the medical students' perspective. Methods We conducted a qualitative descriptive study to analyze written comments of medical students about their clinical teachers' performances. Our analysis strategy was the inductive content analysis method. The results are reported as a descriptive summary with major themes as the final product. Results Our study identified four themes. The first theme, teachers' individual characteristics, includes characteristics that are usually more related to students' subjective experiences and feelings. The second theme, teachers' characteristics that advance student learning, seems to be one of the most important contributions to learning because it increases the practice of procedural skills. The third theme, teachers' characteristics that prepare students for success, shows characteristics that facilitate students' learning by promoting a healthy and safe environment. Lastly, the fourth theme, characteristics related to teaching approaches, includes characteristics that can guide clinical teachers more objectively. Conclusion Our analysis of the written comments of medical students identified many characteristics of a good clinical teacher that were organized in four different themes. These themes contribute to expand on existing understandings of clinical teaching in the anesthesiology clerkship environment, and add new interpretations that can be reflected upon and explored by other clinical educators.