MiPLAN: A Learner-Centered Model for Bedside Teaching in Today's Academic Medical Centers

Clinician educators and medical trainees face intense pressure to complete numerous patient care and teaching activities in a limited amount of time. To address the need for effective and efficient teaching methods for use in the inpatient setting, the authors used constructivist learning theory, the principles of adult learning, and their expertise as clinician educators to develop the MiPLAN model for bedside teaching. This three-part model is designed to enable clinical teachers to simultaneously provide care to patients while assessing learners, determining high-yield teaching topics, and providing feedback to learners. The M refers to a preparatory meeting between teacher and learners before engaging in patient care or educational activities. During this meeting, team members should become acquainted and the teacher should set goals and clarify expectations. The i refers to five behaviors for the teacher to adopt during learners' bedside presentations: introduction, in the moment, inspection, interruptions, and independent thought. PLAN is an algorithm to establish priorities for teaching subsequent to a learner's presentation: patient care, learners' questions, attending's agenda, and next steps. The authors suggest that the MiPLAN model can help clinical teachers gain more confidence in their ability to teach at the bedside and increase the frequency and quality of bedside teaching. They propose further research to assess the generalizability of this model to other institutions, settings, and specialties and to evaluate educational and patient outcomes.