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Advances in Psychiatric Treatment (2003) 9: 308-315
© 2003 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

‘Teaching the teachers’ in psychiatry

Christopher A. Vassilas, Nicholas Brown, David Wall and Hester Womersley

Christopher Vassilas is a consultant in old age psychiatry (Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital, Mindelsohn Way, Birmingham B13 3TX, UK. E-mail: c.a.vassilas{at}bham.ac.uk), an honorary senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham and Director of Medical Education for South Birmingham Mental Health Trust. He has interests in teaching, training and suicide research. Nicholas Brown is a consultant psychiatrist in general adult psychiatry based at Lyndon Resource Centre, Solihull. He has particular interests in training and mental health legislation and currently chairs the West Midlands Postgraduate Training Committee. David Wall is a general practitioner and the Deputy Postgraduate Dean for the West Midlands. He has been instrumental in starting ‘teaching the teachers’ courses in the West Midlands and has written extensively about this. Hester Womersley is a consultant psychiatrist in Hereford. She has an interest in medical education and is working towards gaining a Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education from the University of Wales (Cardiff). All of us have been involved in setting up ‘teaching the teachers’ courses in the West Midlands.

The teaching of medical skills to medical students and to other doctors is a skill in itself. The traditional ‘apprenticeship’ system of learning within medicine is now known to be inefficient and flawed, in both the UK and in other countries where it has been scrutinised. This article sets out guiding principles to help doctors set up ‘teaching the teachers’ courses, which teach the skills of teaching. Psychiatrists at all grades, from senior house officer up to consultant, need some teaching skills, and the authors outline how to plan a course, determine the needs of potential learners and set its objectives and content. Guidance is given on some of the opportunities that are available to obtain formal qualifications in medical education.




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