How to Deliver a 10 Minute Teaching Session

Set--Body--Closure

 Set the scene
OPERA (Setting the scene for your OPERA production…) 

• Objectives (State objectives.  Explain what you’re going to teach)
• Plan (Tell them how you’re going to teach them)
• Environment (teaching space; establish a mood)
• Relevance (explain why what you’re discussing is relevant to the learners and/or to your patients)
• Assess knowledge base (Ask questions to determine this)

Example:  Acute back pain.

O:  “By the end of this teaching session, the learner will be able to evaluate back pain with a focused physical exam to screen for common problems, direct appropriate imaging, and develop a treatment plan.”

P: “We will first review the differential diagnosis of back pain, discuss physical exam findings or data that will help us, and then go over potential treatment.”

E:  “Back pain can be difficult, and most people cringe when they hear this chief complaint…  We’ll try to simply it.”

R:  “This is a common clinical problem, you will see this quite frequently.”

A:  “Have any of you evaluated back pain before?”

Teach the body

• Less is more!  Attentions spans tend to wane after 10-15 minutes.
• Vary the stimulus!  Provide a handout, then use a whiteboard to draw a diagram, or incorporate other visual aids to enhance.
• Particular to general!  When using a specific patient case example, it helps to extend the thought process to the general population.  “So, whenever you see a patient with anemia, consider why they are anemic before treating them.”

 Close the session.  “SRAN”  (like Saran Wrap—to wrap up the session!)

          --S:  Summarize or review what you have taught.

          --R:  Relate back to the set for cohesion (i.e. repeat your objective).

          --A:  Provide sense of Accomplishment (Now you know about back pain!)

          --N:  No New Material  (Do not be tempted to add in more anecdotes at
                    the end; it will detract from your key points.)

Updated: 12/20/06