Bed side teaching: Student’s perception and its correlation with academic performance

Objective: To determine student’s perception of bedside clinical teaching and to correlate it with their performance in assessment.

Methods: This cross-sectional study of correlational survey was conducted at Services Institute of Medical Sciences in September 2019, involving students of final professional year who filled a proforma to rate their bedside teaching experience during clinical rotations using rating scale. Mean scores of items were determined with score < 3 reflecting dis-satisfaction. Mean scores were compared between high and low performing students using student’s t test.

Results: Total of 160 students participated. Physical environment domain was assigned lowest scores by students (mean 2.94±0.74) followed by teaching task by teachers (3.04±0.72), group dynamics (3.16±0.81) and patient comfort and attitude towards patient (3.87±0.60). Teaching task by teacher had maximum stems with scores < 3 needing significant improvement. Students with low academic performance were more unsatisfied with group dynamics of bedside teaching (p value 0.009), especially lack of equal opportunities of participation for every member (p value <0.000) in clinical rotations.

Conclusion: Small size group with adequate space for bedside training and faculty training can enhance learning experience of students. Ensuring active participation of each group member during bedside learning can improve academic performance of students.