• D T Stern, B C Williams, A Gill, L D Gruppen, J O Woolliscroft, and C M Grum.
• Department of Internal Medicine, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Michigan, USA. dstern@umich.edu
• Acad Med. 2000 Nov 1;75(11):1144-6.

PurposeFaculty development programs and faculty incentive systems have heightened the need to validate a connection between the quality of teaching and students' learning. This study was designed to determine the association between attending physicians' and residents' teacher ratings and their students' examination scores.MethodFrom a database of 362 students, 138 faculty, and 107 residents in internal medicine, student-faculty (n = 476) and student-resident (n = 474) pairs were identified. All students were in their third year, rotating on inpatient general medicine and cardiology services, July 1994 through June 1996, at a single institution. The outcome measure for students' knowledge was the NBME Subject Examination in internal medicine. To control for students' baseline knowledge, the predictors were scores on the USMLE Step 1 and a sequential examination (a clinically-based pre- and post-clerkship examination). Teaching abilities of faculty and residents were rated by a global item on the post-clerkship evaluation. Faculty's ratings used only scores from prior to the study period; residents' ratings included those scores students gave during the study period.ResultsMultivariate analyses showed faculty's teaching ratings were a small but significant predictor of the increase in students' knowledge. Residents' teaching ratings did not predict an increase in students' knowledge.ConclusionAttending faculty's clinical teaching ability has a positive and significant effect on medical students' learning.

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