Teaching the Teacher
Success is:
1.) what you know,
2.) how you use what you know
3.) how do you communicate your
knowledge and skills
When we communicate with others, we
are teachers: e.g.,
- our colleagues
- patients
- friends
- superiors;
- and those who control financial resources.
Thus we are all teachers and one
secret to success is:
“How to Improve Our Teaching
Skills”
I have been teaching medicine for 45
years. I may not be the best but here
are some facts I feel are important.
Hints on Good Teaching
Glenn S. Bulmer, Ph.D.
Prof. Emeritus, University Oklahoma School Medicine (USA).
VP ISHAM International (1997-2000 & 2003-2006).
Prof (ret.) UST School Medicine & Surgery, (Phils.).,
China: Prof (hon): 1) Third Military Medical Univ., Chongqing;
2) Guiyang Medical College; 3) Xinjiang Prov. Hospitals
4) Peking Medical Univ., Beijing; 5) Sun Yat-sen Univ., GZ
I think that two factors are involved in
being a really good teacher:
A) Inherent, i.e., your genetics
B) Acquired, i.e., what you can learn to be a better teacher
A) Inherent
- Most biologists believe that life is influenced by genes
and environment.
- It is debatable which one of these two is the most
influential?
- If genes are important in being a good teacher, one should
be born May 3-10. This is Taurus II which astrologists
call “the week of the teacher”. I like this because that
includes my birthday!!!
- However, if you are Taurus II your genetic edge is very
small, so you must acquire much on your own.
B) Acquired:
I want to show you 9 ways that will help
you to be a better teacher.
1.) Teach with some entertainment.
- A good teacher must presents facts, data
and knowledge. But he must make this
process pleasant and easily accepted by
his students.
The students at many medical schools in the USA
award their faculty for Excellence in Teaching.
At the medical university I worked at for 28 years,
one faculty member always seemed to win this award.
I decided to learn his secrets of good teaching so I
attended many of his lectures.
At first I thought his lectures were wonderful, i.e.,
they were entertaining, he told many jokes and made
the students feel good. However, after the lectures I
asked myself,
“What did I learn from that lecture?” I had to admit
that I learned nothing new.
Yes, he was a great entertainer but a poor teacher.
A balanced lecture: Good teaching
Data Entertain
Facts Pleasure
All facts: dull teacher
Entertain
Pleasure
Facts
Data
All entertainment: poor teaching
Facts
Data
Entertain
Pleasure
Acquired (con’t)
2) Know your audience.
- When asked to lecture the first question
I ask is, “Who will I be lecturing to?”
a) What level is their education, e.g., are they
medical students, technicians, residents (if so,
what field?) or are they non-medical people? It
is important to know their level of
education and interests.
b) Is this an English speaking audience or will a
translator be needed? If non English, use many
slides, talk slowly and use a blackboard.
c) What type of lecture do they want?
- Is this an advanced lecture on their specialty, e.g.,
“Current therapy of mycoses.”
- Overview of their fields, e.g., “Mycoses in China
during the past decade”.
- Philosophical or opening of a Symposium, e.g.,
“The challenge of Orthopedic Surgery in the New
China.”
Never give a lecture until you know the audience
and what type of lecture is appropriate.
Acquired (con’t)
3) Get the picture?
- Many years ago, I was preparing a
lecture on a fungus disease. This is a
fungus disease which begins on the
finger and progresses up the lymph
nodes of the arm.
Acquired (con’t)
During lecture preparation, a friend of mine called me
from the clinics. He told me that he was seeing a patient
with this disease. He suggested I come to the clinic to see
the patient. Instead I asked if he could bring the patient
here and we would present him to the students during my
lecture.
He agreed and brought the patient. The two of us took the
patient into the lecture room. For the next hour we
discussed the patient who even participated by discussing
how and why he got his disease.
The students were greatly impressed, and, for many years
after students would stopped me and told me how much
they appreciated that lecture.
Acquired (con’t)
That case changed the way I taught forever.
Thereafter, I used many pictures (e.g., patients,
fungus cultures, histopathology slides),
experiences with patients and stories about
therapy. Thus, I tried to make each lecture come
alive.
Acquired (con’t)
4) Know your subject.
- The main reason why lecturers are
nervous is because they feel inadequate
about the material in their lecture.
- Remember the old saying, “Fear is lack
knowledge.”
- Some fear is necessary to keep us alert.
- But never give a lecture unless you feel
very knowledgeable about the subject.
Acquired (con’t)
5) Contact with the audience.
- Many lecturers feel that they and the audience
are competitive, e.g., adversarial or
combative.
- Try to overcome this by being friendly with
your audience before the lecture begins.
- If you are afraid to look into the eyes of the
students, look at their foreheads, they won’t
know the difference.
- Always be honest, even to admit you are
wrong or don’t know.
Acquired (con’t)
6) Be up-to-date.
- When I visit the office of colleagues I am
amazed to see how old their books are. If
you are not up-to-date the students will be
the first to notice and they will lose respect
for you.
- Always keep up-to-date: Go to seminars,
read new books, and use the Internet.
- Be careful not to be always teaching “the
latest” because tomorrow “the latest” is old
news.
Acquired (con’t)
7) Timing.
- Many lecturers seemed to be in a hurry to finish
their lecture. Maybe it is old and dull for them so
they are happy to complete it.
- Remember that, this is the first time the
students have heard this material. They need time
to digest it mentally.
- Slow down. Look at your students and you will
see if you are going too fast.
- When I make an important point, I stop as
though I am thinking about that myself.
Acquired (con’t)
8) Visual Aids.
- Most of us use visual aids such as pictures,
35mm slides, or more recently, PowerPoint
presentations. These can be extremely
important but they must be presented well.
- For example, let’s look at some tables to
study different approaches;
The following is an example of
a very poor table. There is too
much information. The
audience will not be able to see
what is important and will learn
nothing.
Serum cryptococcal antigen titres and main necropsy findings of koalas from
wild population at Port Macquarie, NSW.
Koala Age Sex Nasal Cryptococcal Main Necropsy
Colonization antigen titre
39 10 Male + NVL
55 > 10 Male 0 Trauma
This is another example of a poor table. Note that some
colors are very good while others are terrible.
Serum cryptococcal antigen determinations from koalas with clinical
cryptococcosis necropsied at Faculty of Veterinarian Science.
Koala SEX Age Main Necropsy
132 Female 3 Nasal cavity disease, early dissemination
133 Female 8 Nasopharyngeal disease.
134 Female > 10 Nasal cavity disease
135 Male 1 Wide dissemination
14+ Male 9 Nasal cavity disease
136 Male 10 Meningoencephalitis
137 Male 5 Pneumonia
A very good table: not too much data and good colors.
Serum cryptococcal antigen determinations from koalas with clinical
cryptococcosis necropsied at Faculty of Veterinarian Science.
Koala SEX Age Main Necropsy
132 Female 3 Nasal cavity disease, early dissemination
133 Female 8 Nasopharyngeal disease.
134 Female > 10 Nasal cavity disease
135 Male 1 Wide dissemination
14+ Male 9 Nasal cavity disease
136 Male 10 Meningoencephalitis
137 Male 5 Pneumonia
Visual Aids (con’t)
We may spend years developing good data
from our research. But, in a lecture, we normally
have 1-2 minutes to present it. Thus, it is
important to design tables that are clear and
meaningful to the audience.
Acquired (con’t)
9) Be a salesman.
- Students are not as interested in your
specialty as you are. Thus, you need to
sell yourself and your product (i.e., your
specialty) to the audience.
- For example, many people feel that the
study of Infectious Diseases must be a
very dull subject. But to you it is
extremely exciting and always changing.
For this reason I feel you must make your
field alive. Sell it!
Acquired (con’t)
-I feel it is important that a teacher challenges his
students intellectually. There is an old saying:
“A really good teacher can drive a student to think.”
-As a teacher, this is your responsibility. Remember
that the primary purpose of a teacher is to be
replaced. Hopefully some of the better students in
your audiences will be your replacement.
- Lastly for medicine to advance our students must
eventually be better than us.
Thank You!