title: Bedside teaching.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Clinical teachers have been exhorted to "return to the bedside" so that the three critical parties-teacher, trainee, and patient-can participate together in the educational encounter. The presence of the patient is deemed essential for the optimal demonstration and observation of physical examination, medical interviewing, and interpersonal skills, as well as role-modeling professional and humanistic behavior.
  
  
  METHODS
  This essay reviews the challenges inherent in bedside teaching and proposes strategies to enhance both the effectiveness and efficiency of such teaching.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Practical suggestions are provided regarding teaching issues (time constraints, group accommodation, selectivity, demonstration, observation, case presentations), learning climate for both teacher and learners, hospital and patient barriers, and selected other issues.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite changes in the clinical setting and financing of medical education, patient-centered teaching will remain essential to the training of future clinicians. Techniques described in this paper can be useful in facilitating such bedside teaching.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Uniformed Service University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Md, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kroenke
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Omori
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Landry
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Lucey
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003219:Confidentiality; D004501:Education, Medical; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006739:Hospital Administration; D006808:Humanism; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007858:Learning; D018579:Patient Selection; D010361:Patients; D010362:Patients' Rooms; D010550:Personal Space; D010808:Physical Examination; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D018794:Problem-Based Learning / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration; D013337:Students, Medical; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D013997:Time Factors