Trainees' feedback on the prevailing teaching methods in postgraduate medical institute, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE To determine the feedback of postgraduate (PG) trainees on their current teaching methods and their level of satisfaction with those at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Department of Surgery, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, from January to May 2010. METHODOLOGY A semi-structured proforma was filled by the trainees regarding teaching methods and preferences. Level of satisfaction was measured by five points Likert scale. Results were processed through SPSS 17.0 for descriptive statistics. RESULTS The response rate was 260 out of the total 268 trainees. Lecture / tutorials were reported as the major method of teaching by 239 (91.9%), bedside teaching by 229 (88.1%), journal club by 217 (83.5%), e-learning by 157 (60.4%), audit meetings by 152 (58.5%), interactive sessions by 144 (55.4%), radiology meeting by 101 (38.8%) and TOACS by 39 (15%) trainees. Out of 28 units, TOACS were practised as a teaching method in 3 units. It was noted that 47 trainees (18.1%) graded the current training to be unsatisfactory, 127 as fair (48.8%), 77 as good (29.6%), 9 as very good (3.5%) while none considered it to be excellent. TOACS was the most preferred method of teaching, reported by 239 PGs (91.9%). Excessive work load as a cause for the dissatisfaction was reported by 229 trainees (88.1%), inadequate teaching by 157 (60.4%), lack of motivation 124 (47.7%), inappropriate teaching 122 (46.9%) and personal problems by 118 (45.4%). CONCLUSION Lecture is the most commonly used method of teaching in the Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, while TOACS is the most preferred method amongst trainees, but it is the least practiced.