Perspectives …

The success of an educational intervention is dependent on a multitude of factors. Even if we define success as limited as ‘increased competence right after the intervention’, we can safely assume a strong interplay between different aspects of the intervention (for example: time and number of items addressed) and the learning effect caused by that intervention. The problem gets even bigger when we incorporate transfer of learning between different contexts. We often witness that students who have mastered one topic in undergraduate training do not seem to be able to do the same during clerkships. Among the factors that (co-)influence learning we can assume at least: the content, the format, the didactic skills of the teacher, and the characteristics of the learner. Regarding content: we have learned that learning (storing new information in our memories, but also retrieving it from our memories) is facilitated when new information is linked to what we know already. Hence the importance of activating prior knowledge when learning new information; this helps to anchor new information in connection to what we already know. We also know to some extent what influence the teaching format has on learning. To generalize: the more active the students are while learning, the higher the learning effect. And of course the didactic skills of the teacher are important for learning. The teacher can activate students and can help them process, elaborate, and work with what they are learning. Moreover, the teacher’s enthusiasm is known to be a crucial factor in the ease of learning, with a possible mediating role of students’ motivation. Additionally, the teacher is often regarded as a role model, providing an example to the students of how professionals act and react. By the way: in my view that role is