Teaching and teacher education for health professionals: perspectives on quality and outlook of health professionals education in Zambia

Abstract

To measure students' perspectives on the teaching quality of the school of medicine at University of Zambia and concurrently measure health professionals educators perspectives on the need for teaching courses for health professionals educators (educational skills training). The results are discussed as indications for educational skills training for educators in health professionals' education. 250 medical students from the MB ChB programme were surveyed, in an evaluation exercise, to rate the teaching contribution of all the full-time and honorary lecturers (n=88). The students were requested to rate each lecturer out of 10 on eight scales: a) attendance, b) punctuality, c) clarity, d) interest in the subject, e) supportiveness to students, f) ability as a lecturer, g) appropriate use of audiovisual aids, and h) amount of workload done in the academic year. Additionally, a multi-site study surveyed 426 health professionals educators, defined as persons who considered themselves as continually participating in teaching students in a training institutions for health professions in the Country on the necessity for and their willingness to enrol into a teaching programme for health educators.