As doctors (from Middle English doctor, “an expert, authority on a subject,” doctour, from Anglo-Norman doctour, from Latin doctor, “teacher,” from doceō, “I teach”), we have inherited not only the mantle of healing and comforting the sick, but also the responsibility to teach others: our patients, students, residents, administrators, and our medical and nursing colleagues. Whether we are in academic practice with or without residency programs, or in any other model of practice, we all fulfill the roles of a teacher. We will explore these roles within the framework (Figure 1) defined by the great clinical educator Ronald Harden.1
Information Provider: The role of information provider (lecturer, clinical or practical teacher) is most familiar. Every day as physicians we teach our patients about their diagnosis, about treatment options and about possible outcomes. We share our knowledge with the community, whether through lectures...
