Teaching orthopaedics on the run: tell me the story backward.

Abstract

At times clinical teaching can become too passive and the cognitive level of discussions with residents may be inappropriately low. Busy outpatients clinics and emergency departments might be considered hostile educational environments that do not lend themselves well to scholarly discussions and intense teaching sessions. Paradoxically, these same areas are where attendings and residents may spend considerable time, and consequently, significant training opportunities may be lost. This situation demands a teaching tactic that is simple, time efficient, and cognitively challenging. Such a teaching tactic, referred to as Tell Me The Story Backward, is presented.