Why do surgeons teach? A qualitative analysis of motivation in excellent surgical educators

Abstract

Introduction: Given that teaching is so vital to the maintenance of the medical profession, it is surprising that few authors have examined the factors which motivate physicians and surgeons to engage in this activity.

Aim: It was the aim of this study to examine the factors which motivate excellent surgical educators to teach.

Methodology: Grounded theory methodology was used to analyze transcribed semi-structured interviews. The top 20 ranked surgical educators at the University of Alberta were invited to participate. In total, 15 surgeons of various specialties were interviewed.

Results: There were five main factors which motivate surgeons to teach. These were: (1) a sense of responsibility to teach future physicians (2) an intrinsic enjoyment of teaching (3) the need to maintain and expand one’s own knowledge base (4) watching students develop into competent practicing physicians and playing a role in their success, and (5) fostering positive lifelong professional relationships with learners.

Discussion: This is the first study in surgery to use an explorative qualitative methodology. This framework of motivating factors can be used to guide professional development activities. The framework represents motivating factors for those known to be effective teachers only. We plan to use this information to engage more surgeons in teaching by providing a basis for promoting education as part of a busy surgical practice.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Funding

Work supported by the Tom Williams Endowed Chair, in Surgical Education, University of Alberta Health, 10.13039/501100000190.

This work has been presented at AMEE Annual Meeting 2015, Glasgow, Scotland.

Glossary

Herzberg motivation theory: A theory which can be used to explore workplace motivation. It is based on two factors, hygiene and motivating factors. Based on this theory motivation factors are required whereas hygiene factors do not add considerably to intrinsic motivation.

Notes on contributors

Curtis Budden MD, MEd, is a plastic surgery resident at the University of Alberta and recently completed graduate studies in educational psychology. His special interests include assessment in medical training and psychometric analysis.

Ksenia Svechnikova MSc, was a research assistant for the Learning Surgery research project in 2011–2013. She is a policy analyst with Alberta Government's Ministry of Health at the time of the manuscript submission.

Jonathan White MB BCh MSc PhD FRCS(Gen Surg) is Professor of Surgery and Endowed Chair of Surgical Education at the University of Alberta. His work focuses on the development of novel teaching methods and the exploration of surgical practice using qualitative methods.