Classroom Teaching 101

Teaching in the pre-clerkship curriculum is different from presenting at a conference or delivering grand rounds. Your goal is not to share everything you know about a topic, but to help learners build a foundation that they can apply in future clinical practice. Medical students are still developing their understanding of the basic and clinical sciences, clinical reasoning, and professional identity. Effective classroom teaching helps learners organize knowledge, understand why it matters, and begin thinking like physicians. Rather than focusing on the details of your specialty, focus on the key concepts, common presentations, clinical reasoning, and practical "take-home" messages that students will encounter repeatedly throughout their training.

The most effective classroom sessions are learner-centred and interactive. Students learn best when they are actively engaged—interpreting clinical cases, answering questions, discussing management decisions, or applying concepts to realistic scenarios. Consider using brief clinical cases to illustrate important principles, pausing regularly to ask learners what they are thinking before providing the answer, and making your clinical reasoning explicit. Explain not only what you do, but why you do it. This helps students begin developing the reasoning processes that underpin safe and effective patient care.

Remember that every classroom session is part of a larger curriculum. Students are learning from many teachers across multiple disciplines, and your session builds on previous learning while preparing them for what comes next. Coordinate with the session learning objectives, emphasize the concepts that students must understand rather than memorize, and avoid overwhelming learners with excessive detail or subspecialty knowledge. A few memorable concepts, reinforced through clinical examples and active learning, will have a much greater impact than a comprehensive review of everything related to your topic.

Top Ten Tips for teaching in pre-clerkship:

• Teach to the learning objectives, not your subspecialty.
• Focus on the "need to know" rather than the "nice to know."
• Start with a patient or clinical problem whenever possible.
• Use one key teaching point every 10–15 minutes.
• Ask questions that promote reasoning, not recall.
• Explain your clinical thinking—not just your conclusions.
• Limit text and use visuals purposefully.
• Tell students what they should remember one month from now.
• Leave time for questions and reflection.
• Remember: your goal is not to cover everything; it is to help students learn.