Role of Adult Learning Theory in Evaluating and Designing Strategies for Teaching Residents in Ambulatory Settings.

Background: As more patient care moves into the outpatient arena, teaching medical residents in this setting has become of critical importance. Ambulatory teaching is especially challenging due to highly variable, unpredictable learning needs and little time for teaching. Recent literature suggests many strategies for effective teaching; however, most are not grounded in education theory. Summary: Using precepts of Adult Learning Theory, we review the literature on educational strategies for teaching medical residents in ambulatory settings. Many well known strategies apply the principle of learner involvement in setting educational goals; however, few strategies use principles such as explicit evaluation of task relevance or learner skill practice. Conclusions: We assert that Adult Learning Theory can be used to evaluate the expected effectiveness of suggested strategies for teaching medical residents in ambulatory settings. Furthermore, development and evaluation of new educational strategies should be grounded in sound theoretical models to enhance the likelihood of more effective teaching.