Over the past four years of my medical degree I have experienced the whole gamut of lecture theatre emotions. The contented sigh‘oh it all makes sense now’ now moments as a difficult concept was clearly explained by an accomplished lecturer.
The tutors whose eyes remain permanently fixed on the back wall of the theatre and spout a stream of obscure medical science to me and m y fellow dozing students. However, it wasn’t until I started to teach students myself as a clinical skills tutor that I realised how challenging and essential the skill of lecturing is in the advancement of knowledge. As a medical student I often feel overwhelmed by the information that I am expected to cram into my cranium. In moments of deep despair I have often questioned whether there really are enough neurones in any brain to memorise and apply this knowledge. So, if learning medicine involves learning and employing a significant amount of information a good lecturer in medicine should primarily endeavour to condense the necessary knowledge into memorable chunks. In the lecture theatre this should always be their priority. Once the lecturer has ensured that he or she has emphasised and reiterated the essential facts there are numerous other qualities and skills that will ensure the attention of their eager learners. In the remainder of this essay I will consider a number of the attributes that make a good lecturer. One would assume that any individual who lectures students is enthusiastic about their subject and dedicated to communicating that fascination to some fresh new faces. I believe that a keen interest and enthusiasm in the subject should be a pre-requisite for any lecturing post. How can a tutor expect to encourage his or her students to learn if they themselves appear bored by their subject material? However, all individuals who possess a keen interest in their subject will not necessarily convey this passion to their students.
The accomplished lecturer will also have a passion for teaching and for the advancement of their field. Those young school leavers may be the future of the field of medicine that the lecturer has dedicated his or her professional life to. In addition to a passion for teaching and an enthusiasm in

their subject a good lecturer must ensure that their one hour of teaching and all those important facts are remembered by the students. The most interesting and memorable lectures that I have attended at medical school have involved enthusiastic lecturers engaging the students in activities in the lecture theatre. As opposed to listening to a one hour monologue we were encouraged to discuss key points with our fellow students and respond in groups to the rest of the auditorium.
This more informal, active approach to teaching ensured that our one hour lecture was a talking point outside of the lecture theatre and therefore eminently unforgettable. Another important aspect of teaching is ensuring that your subject matter is relevant to students. I often found it difficult to pay attention in the lectures that seemed unrelated to the practice of medicine. Lecturers who refer to clinical scenarios or their clinical experience have often fired my imagination and encouraged me to listen attentively and scribble down invaluable notes. In the same way I have often noticed that students, from their collective hunched position at 4p.m. on a Thursday afternoon, will sit up when the all-important words ‘this frequently comes up in exams’ are uttered. The methods used by the lecturer to convey information in a lecture is also extremely important. While studying medicine I have become increasingly aware that learning is an individual experience. There are three different types of ‘learner’ visual, auditory and kinaesthetic.
In my pre-clinical years I was often discouraged from attending those lectures which I knew would consist of a tutor talking at length about a complicated scientific process and quickly flicking through forty overhead slides. As a visual learner I knew that my time would be better spent in the library, poring over brightly coloured books. I have even attended lectures where the lecturer has firmly stated that all students should put down their pens and cease writing because he would like us ‘just to listen’. A lecture such as this is wasted on me. I believe that we should be more sympathetic towards these different types of learning and students in the healthcare professions should fly the flag for ‘multi-sensory’ lectures. A truly excellent lecturer will aim to stimulate the visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learners individually in his or her auditorium. At my medical school senior medical students such as myself are employed to teach clinical skills for one afternoon a week to preclinical medical students. In order to be afforded this position of responsibility clinical students must have scored consistently high in clinical exams and attend a training day. Until I was made a clinical skills tutor I had never really thought about how challenging it is to lecture. During my teaching sessions I aim to be the ultimate multi-tasker; knowledgeable, fully prepared, enthusiastic and engaging. I ensure that the students are interested and stimulated throughout our session and reiterate the important learning points at the end of our time together.
Teaching these students has easily been my most rewarding experience at medical school and I

now plan to pursue a career in medical teaching in the future. In conclusion, I believe that the future of medicine depends on good lecturers who should, most importantly, be proficient in condensing and emphasising the salient points of their lecture. However, an enthusiasm for their subject and for teaching and a desire to deliver a relevant and engaging lecture is also vital in ensuring the attention and interest of their students. I truly believe that ‘multisensory’ lectures should be introduced into the medical school curriculum and a good lecturer will aim to stimulate the different types of learners in the audience.
Over the past four years of my medical degree I have experienced the whole gamut of lecture theatre emotions. The contented sigh‘oh it all makes sense now’ now moments as a difficult concept was clearly explained by an accomplished lecturer. The tutors whose eyes remain permanently fixed on the back wall of the theatre and spout a stream of obscure medical science to me and my fellow dozing students. However, it wasn’t until I started to teach students myself as a clinical skills tutor that I realised how challenging and essential the skill of lecturing is in the advancement of knowledge.
As a medical student I often feel overwhelmed by the information that I am expected to cram into my cranium. In moments of deep despair I have often questioned whether there really are enough neurones in any brain to memorise and apply this knowledge. So, if learning medicine involves learning and employing a significant amount of information a good lecturer in medicine should primarily endeavour to condense the necessary knowledge into memorable chunks. In the lecture theatre this should always be their priority.
Once the lecturer has ensured that he or she has emphasised and reiterated the essential facts there are numerous other qualities and skills that will ensure the attention of their eager learners.
In the remainder of this essay I will consider a number of the attributes that make a good lecturer.
One would assume that any individual who lectures students is enthusiastic about their subject and dedicated to communicating that fascination to some fresh new faces. I believe that a keen interest and enthusiasm in the subject should be a pre-requisite for any lecturing post. How can a tutor expect to encourage his or her students to learn if they themselves appear bored by their subject material? However, all individuals who possess a keen interest in their subject will not necessarily

convey this passion to their students. The accomplished lecturer will also have a passion for teaching and for the advancement of their field. Those young school leavers may be the future of the field of medicine that the lecturer has dedicated his or her professional life to.
In addition to a passion for teaching and an enthusiasm in their subject a good lecturer must ensure that their one hour of teaching and all those important facts are remembered by the students. The most interesting and memorable lectures that I have attended at medical school have involved enthusiastic lecturers engaging the students in activities in the lecture theatre. As opposed to listening to a one hour monologue we were encouraged to discuss key points with our fellow students and respond in groups to the rest of the auditorium. This more informal, active approach to teaching ensured that our one hour lecture was a talking point outside of the lecture theatre and therefore eminently unforgettable.
Another important aspect of teaching is ensuring that your subject matter is relevant to students. I often found it difficult to pay attention in the lectures that seemed unrelated to the practise of medicine. Lecturers who refer to clinical scenarios or their clinical experience have often fired my imagination and encouraged me to listen attentively and scribble down invaluable notes. In the same way I have often noticed that students, from their collective hunched position at 4p.m. on a
Thursday afternoon, will sit up when the all important words ‘this frequently comes up in exams’ are uttered.
The methods used by the lecturer to convey information in a lecture is also extremely important.
While studying medicine I have become increasingly aware that learning is an individual experience. There are three different types of ‘learner’ visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. In my preclinical years I was often discouraged from attending those lectures which I knew would consist of a tutor talking at length about a complicated scientific process and quickly flicking through forty overhead slides. As a visual learner I knew that my time would be better spent in the library, poring over brightly coloured books. I have even attended lectures where the lecturer has firmly stated that all students should put down their pens and cease writing because he would like us ‘just to listen’. A lecture such as this is wasted on me. I believe that we should be more sympathetic towards these different types of learning and students in the healthcare professions should fly the flag for ‘multi-sensory’ lectures. A truly excellent lecturer will aim to stimulate the visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learners individually in his or her auditorium.

At my medical school senior medical students such as myself are employed to teach clinical skills for one afternoon a week to preclinical medical students. In order to be afforded this position of responsibility clinical students must have scored consistently high in clinical exams and attend a training day. Until I was made a clinical skills tutor I had never really thought about how challenging it is to lecture. During my teaching sessions I aim to be the ultimate multi-tasker; knowledgeable, fully prepared, enthusiastic and engaging. I ensure that the students are interested and stimulated throughout our session and reiterate the important learning points at the end of our time together.
Teaching these students has easily been my most rewarding experience at medical school and I now plan to pursue a career in medical teaching in the future.
In conclusion, I believe that the future of medicine depends on good lecturers who should, most importantly, be proficient in condensing and emphasising the salient points of their lecture.
However, an enthusiasm for their subject and for teaching and a desire to deliver a relevant and engaging lecture is also vital in ensuring the attention and interest of their students. I truly believe that ‘multisensory’ lectures should be introduced into the medical school curriculum and a good lecturer will aim to stimulate the different types of learners in the audience.
There was an excellent response to the competition and the standard of essays was higher than ever. The winner of the Subject Centre competition went forward to the national competition, and the overall winner was announced at the Higher Education Academy conference in Harrogate in
July 2008.
First prize, a new laptop, was awarded to Warren Rieutort-Louis, a third year Engineering student from the University of Cambridge. His essay, ‘What makes a good lecturer?’, focused on the shared experience of learning and the passion, drive and enthusiasm demonstrated by excellent educators, you can read his essay at www.engsc.ac.uk/an/student_awards/archive/winner2008.asp
For more information please contact gillian@medev.ac.uk