title: A typology of teaching roles and relationships for medical education.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Educational programs involve interactions between the instructors and the learners. In these interactions, instructors may play various roles. However, a nomenclature for relationships with learners appropriate to those roles has not been developed for medical education.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This article presents a typology of instructor's roles to facilitate the connection of outcomes with instructional methods and to inform training sessions for instructors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Published articles in general education and medical education were searched for examples of terms used for instructor's roles in developmental interactions. Examples were grouped and classified to develop a two-dimensional typology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The typology has eight categories on two dimensions. One dimension is the purpose for interaction: (1) knowledge transmission, (2) professional identity formation, (3) negotiating the institutional milieu, and (4) relationship building. The other dimension is dichotomous on whether the instructor is a member of the profession to which the learners aspire. Twelve terms were categorized: Advisor, Advocate, Buddy, Coach, Counselor, Facilitator, Guru, Master, Mentor, Role model, Teacher and Tutor.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Faculty instructors in medical education are often pressed for time, so clarifying role expectations is a low-cost scheme to enhance results. Using the typology can align instructor behavior with the desired learner outcomes and enhance efficient use of instructional time.
authors.affiliation: a Emory University , USA.
authors.forename: Hugh A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Stoddard
authors.affiliation: a Emory University , USA.
authors.forename: Nicole J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Borges
mesh_terms: D004501:Education, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005178:Faculty / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D019359:Knowledge; D008611:Mentors; D024382:Professional Role; D013337:Students, Medical