Justifying the Need and Exploring Learning Opportunities for Clinical Teaching to Medical Students in Ambulatory Settings

Abstract

As the ultimate aim of medical education is to produce a competent medical student who can meet the needs of the community they serve, the acquisition of clinical skills and other attributes carries immense importance in the training period. Keeping this in mind, the clinical teaching offered to the medical students is a crucial component of training and all efforts should be taken by the administrators and teachers to increase the number of opportunities available to medical students for teaching and learning. Owing to the changing dynamics in patient care, the ambulatory care settings end to neutralize all the limitations attributed to the ward teaching. In conclusion, clinical teaching in the field of medical education has gradually moved from the wards to the ambulatory settings. These settings precisely reflect the true spectrum of health and disease in the community and it is the need of the hour to expose the medical student to these wide ranges of learning opportunities and help them to become self-directed learners.