Cambridge Scholars Publishing The Importance of Becoming a Medical Educator: The Case for Teaching Doctors to be Teachers

It is often assumed that healthcare professionals are effective medical educators simply because they have completed the required courses leading to their degrees. As such, they are rarely provided with the ongoing support needed to become consistently effective medical teachers. Developing effective medical teachers is a complex task that can best be achieved by providing teacher candidates with the understanding and tools they need to become effective. Although a thorough knowledge of medicine is necessary to become an excellent medical educator, earning a medical degree alone is not enough. A variety of factors go into a teacher’s effectiveness in any educational setting, and most teachers need guidance and practice in order to become effective. Among the many topics addressed in this text are teaching/learning; instructional objectives; teacher assessment; adult learning theory; motivation of adult learners; the red flags of ineffective teaching; and the difference between equality and equity. This book will serve to educate doctors on how to better teach their students and current colleagues, and, most importantly, how to better educate their patients. Review “Berman brings his expertise and wealth of experience working with students from pre-K through graduate school and medical school to this important topic. I am confident that physicians who read this book will find more effective and efficient ways to share information with their students and patients.”Jeff FinkGraduate School of Education, Hamline University, USA“I had the privilege of working directly with Dr Berman as a colleague and mentor when he was in the classroom. This book effectively captures the wisdom and skill that he brought to his own practice as a teacher and teacher educator. I recommend the book not only for medical doctors who teach, but for anyone who wants to improve at the important vocation of teaching. As Berman himself argues, “Good teaching is good teaching!””Dr Joe LewisGraduate School of Education, Hamline University, USA About the Author Dr Anthony Berman is a retired Assistant Professor from the School of Education at Hamline University, USA, having also served as a Visiting Educator and Curriculum Consultant at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He holds a BA in Slavic Linguistics, an MSE in Counseling and Reading, and an EdD in Educational Leadership. In addition to teaching at both the elementary and high school levels, he has been a building principal, and has served as a district coordinator for reading, gifted/talented education, and staff development. He has taught adult learners for over 25 years, concentrating on teaching teachers how to be effective. His primary research interest has long been the characteristics of effective teachers. He has published several articles on medical education, including two in Anatomical Sciences Education (“Anatomy of Curriculum: Digging to the Core” and “Good Teaching is Good Teaching: A Narrative Review for Effective Medical Educators”).