Ten tips for teaching in the theatre tearoom: shifting the focus from teaching to learning.

Educational encounters between surgeons and trainees are often brief, spontaneous, opportunistic events. In spite of their vast teaching experience, very few surgeons have had educational training that enables them to optimise such opportunities. This article reviews the literature on medical education and adult learning, and makes practical suggestions about how surgeons can best help trainees to learn.

Education programs at the new Australian School of Advanced Medicine at Macquarie University.

The Australian School of Advanced Medicine at Macquarie University, Sydney, will provide competency-based university medical specialist training in a private hospital environment, Australia. The rationale is the need for additional and innovative programs to meet emerging demands, and alternative training programs to increase the opportunities for doctors to achieve their career goals. The programs will focus on learning (not teaching), on developing a comprehensive set of professional competencies, on teamwork, and on research.

How assessment drives learning in neurosurgical higher training.

Unlabelled: Certifying the competence of neurosurgeons is a process of critical importance to the people of Australia and New Zealand. This process of certification occurs largely through the summative assessment of trainees involved in higher neurosurgical training. Assessment methods in higher training in neurosurgery vary widely between nations.

The neurosurgical training curriculum in Australia and New Zealand is changing. Why?

The Neurosurgical Advanced Training curriculum of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) is currently undergoing change. Given the high standard of neurosurgery in Australia and New Zealand, it may be questioned why such change is necessary. However, the curriculum has not kept pace with developments in professional practice, educational practice or educational theory, particularly in the assessment of medical competence and performance.

Self-directed learning in population health. a clinically relevant approach for medical students.

Background: In this article, we describe the education model used to integrate population health learning into a new 4-year medical program at the University of Sydney.

Method: Our two-pronged approach aims to prepare third-year students to integrate population health thinking into their day-to-day clinical reasoning and to equip them with skills to investigate specific population health topics. We provide an example of a student-led, small-group session on health issues for disadvantaged populations, along with an outline of our assessment and evaluation methods.