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A Practical Guide for Medical and Health Professions Teachers

  • 7th Edition - July 28, 2026
  • Latest edition
  • Editors: John Dent, Ronald M. Harden, Yvonne Steinert
  • Language: English

Bridging the gap between education theory and the delivery of excellent teaching, A Practical Guide for Medical and Health Professions Teachers, 7th Edition, provides access… Read more

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Description

Bridging the gap between education theory and the delivery of excellent teaching, A Practical Guide for Medical and Health Professions Teachers, 7th Edition, provides accessible, highly readable, and practical information for those involved in basic science, clinical practice, and education in all the health professions. Highly regarded in these fields, this text offers valuable insights from global contributors who provide an international perspective as well as a multi-professional approach to topics relevant to all healthcare teachers. This fully revised edition provides timely updates on recent growth areas—from artificial intelligence, to the evolution of precision learning, to cultural awareness. It remains one of the foremost guides from top educationalists in the field.

Key features

  • Emphasizes the importance of developing educational skills in the delivery of enthusiastic and effective teaching
  • Offers comprehensive, succinct sections on curriculum development, learning situations and strategies, curriculum themes, assessment, student engagement, and more
  • Includes new content on artificial intelligence, public health medicine, social accountability, cultural awareness, student well-being and mindfulness, cost and sustainability in medical education, learning analytics, precision learning, peer-assisted learning, and professional identity, to highlight some
  • Features an expanded section, “Patients,” that stresses the importance of the patients as a partners in education and assessment
  • Helpful boxes highlight practical tips, quotes, and trends seen in today’s approach to education
  • Delivers the knowledge and expertise of more than 60 new authors and some 130 contributors from 27 countries, providing representation across the health professions
  • An eBook version is included with purchase. The eBook allows you to access all of the text, figures, and references, with the ability to search, make notes and highlights, and have content read aloud

Readership

Teachers and trainers in medicine and health professions, whether engaged in undergraduate, postgraduate or continuing education. Students of postgraduate / masters programmes in medical and health professions education. Medical and health professions curriculum developers, student advisors or education researchers

Table of contents

SECTION 1 Curriculum Development—The
‘Why’ of Learning

1 The Future of Health Professions Education, 2
John A. Dent, Ronald M. Harden, and Yvonne E. Steinert

2 What Is the Curriculum?, 10
Ronald M. Harden

3 Theories of Teaching and Learning, 17
Susan Jamieson

4 The Continuum of Education for the Health
Professions, 24
Richard Hays

5 The Undergraduate Curriculum, 33
Susan van Schalkwyk and Julia Blitz

6 Postgraduate Education in the Health Professions:
Pathways to Practice, 41
Eusang Ahn, Jason R. Frank, and Linda Snell

7 Continuing Professional Development, 49
Samar Aboulsoud and Helena Prior Filipe

8 The International and Global Dimensions of
Education in the Health Professions, 57
Elizabeth K. Kachur
SECTION 2 Learning Situations—The ‘How’
of Learning

9 Learning in Large Groups, 68
William B. Jeffries, Kathryn N. Huggett, and John L. Szarek

10 Learning in Small Groups, 76
Dario Torre and Steven J. Durning

11 Learning in the Workplace, 83
Francisco M. Olmos-Vega

12 Independent Learning and Distance Education, 91
John Sandars and Kieran Walsh

13 Learning in Hospitals, 99
John A. Dent

14 Learning Medicine in Rural and Urban
Communities, 107
Roger P. Strasser, Carol P. Herbert, and William B. Ventres

15 Learning in a Simulated Environment, 116
Debra Nestel, Debra Kiegaldie, Arunaz Kumar, and
Alexis Battista
SECTION 3 Educational Strategies and
Technologies—The ‘Approaches’ to Learning

16 Outcome-Based Education, 126
Eric Holmboe

17 Integrated Learning, 134
Neil Osheroff

18 Interprofessional Education and Learning, 141
Kathy Chappell and Elizabeth Molloy

19 Problem-Based Learning: A Flexible Approach, 149
Diana Dolmans, Woei Hung, and Janneke Frambach

20 Team-Based Learning, 157
Dean Parmelee, Maryam Alizadeh, and Abbas Hyderi

21 Technology and Professional Education, 164
Rachel H. Ellaway

22 Artificial Intelligence and the Clinical Teacher, 171
Martin Pusic and Adam Rodman

23 Precision Learning, 181
Vishna Devi Nadarajah, Er Hui Meng, and Nilesh Kumar Mitra
SECTION 4 Curriculum Themes—The ‘What’
of Teaching and Learning

24 Relevance of Foundational Sciences to the
Curriculum, 192
Wojciech Pawlina, Punnose Kurian Kattil, and
Nirusha Lachman

25 Social and Behavioural Sciences in Medical
School Curricula, 201
Jeni Harden

26 Clinical Communications Skills and Empathy, 208
Dujeepa D. Samarasekera, Lee Shuh Shing, and Han Ting
Jillian Yeo

27 Bioethics, 218
Russell Franco D’Souza, Mary Mathew, and Krishna Mohan
Surapaneni

28 Professionalism and Supporting Professional
Identity, 225
Robert Sternszus and Natasha Khursigara-Slattery

29 Utilizing Education Research to Deliver
Evidence-Based Teaching, 233
Morris Gordon

30 Patient Safety and Quality of Care, 240
Linda A. Headrick, Douglas E. Paull, and Kevin B. Weiss

31 Health Humanities in Health Professions
Education, 249
Julie Y. Chen, Harry Yi-Jui Wu, and Alex Gearin

32 Integrative Medicine in the Training of
Health Professionals, 257
Aviad Haramati, Shelley R. Adler, Vincent J. Minichiello,
and Ray Teets

33 Clinical Reasoning, 265
Jack Penner, Ralph Pinnock, and Steven J. Durning

34 Well-being, Mindfulness and Yarigai, 273
Mariko Morishita and Hiroshi Nishigori

35 Planetary Health, 280
Michelle McLean and Kristen MacKenzie-Shalders

36 Cultural Competence and Humility, 292
Ardi Findyartini and Diantha Soemantri

37 Future-Proofing the Student, 301
Raquel Coreia, Matthieu Guyot, and Mathias Brugel

38 Public Health in Health Professions Education, 309
Hossam Hamdy and Jayadevan Sreedharan
SECTION 5 Assessment—The ‘Measure’ of
Learning

39 Concepts in Assessment Including Standard
Setting, 318
John Norcini and Danette W. McKinley

40 Written Assessments, 326
Lambert W.T. Schuwirth and Cees van der Vleuten

41 Performance and Workplace Assessment, 335
Katharine Boursicot and Sandra Kemp

42 Portfolios, Projects and Theses, 343
Erik W. Driessen, Sylvia Heeneman, and
Cees van der Vleuten

43 Assessment as Learning, 351
Marjan Govaerts and Desirée Joosten-ten Brinke

44 The Assessment of Attitudes and
Professionalism, 358
Val Wass, Helen Reid, and Amanda Barnard

45 Programmatic Assessment, 366
Chris Roberts and Priya Khanna
SECTION 6 Staff—The ‘Who’ of Teaching and
Learning

46 The Roles of the Teacher in Health Professions
Education, 378
Ronald M. Harden and Pat Lilley

47 Teacher Evaluation, 385
Ron A. Berk

48 The Teacher as a Scholar, 392
Shoaleh Bigdeli and Fakhrosadat Mirhosseini

49 Faculty Development, 399
Yvonne E. Steinert

50 Mentoring in Health Professions Education, 407
Subha Ramani and Larry Gruppen

51 Faculty Well-being, Burnout and Stress, 415
Marti Balaam and Harriet Harris
SECTION 7 Students

52 Selection of Students and Trainees, 424
Kevin W. Eva

53 The Student as Teacher, 432
Sambath Cheab and Sengkhoun Lim

54 Working with Students with Learning
Difficulties, 439
Miriam Lacasse and Julie Montreuil

55 Student Engagement in the Educational
Process, 447
Karen D. Könings, Stephanie N.E. Meeuwissen, and
Subha Ramani

56 Career Choice, 455
Laila Premji and Stacey Bernstein
SECTION 8 Patients

57 The Patient as Educator, 462
Vincent Dumez, Philippe Karazivan, Annie Descôteaux, and
Caroline Wong

58 The Patient as Assessor, 469
Lynn Ashdown and Linda Jones

59 The Patient as Curriculum Developer, 478
Angela Towle, Adrian Yee, and Carolyn Canfield
SECTION 9 Education Management

60 Curriculum Evaluation, 488
Machelle Linsenmeyer

61 Medical Education Leadership, 496
Judy McKimm and Kirsty Forrest

62 The Health Professions Teacher and Social
Accountability, 504
Roger P. Strasser, Charles Boelen, Shrijane Shrestha,
Mohamed Elhassan Abdalla, and James Rourke

63 The Educational Learning Environment, 513
Jonas Nordquist and Ingrid Philibert

64 Health Professions Education Research, 523
Jennifer A. Cleland and Steven J. Durning

65 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Medical
Education, 531
Petra Verdonk and Janusz Janczukowicz

66 The Cost and Sustainability of Health Professions
Education, 539
Kieran Walsh and Jonathan Foo

67 Health Professions Education in Disrupted and
Conflict Settings, 547
Gominda Ponnamperuma

68 Evidence-Informed Health Professions
Education, 554
Hussein Uraiby and Michelle Daniel
Index, 565

Review quotes

Review of the previous edition:
"This is an outstanding contribution to the medical education literature which should have significant global appeal." --James A. Hallock, Past President and Chief Executive, Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, USA

"This marvellous book reminds us that, in the health professions, ‘we are all teaching and we are all learning’ ". --Brian D. Hodges Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Education at the University of Toronto

Product details

  • Edition: 7
  • Latest edition
  • Published: July 28, 2026
  • Language: English

About the editors

JD

John Dent

Affiliations and expertise
Honorary Reader in Postgraduate Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK

RH

Ronald M. Harden

Professor Ronald M Harden is recognised as a leading international expert in medical education with experience as a teacher, curriculum developer, and teaching dean of a medical school. He is currently General Secretary of AMEE, an International Association for Medical Education.
Affiliations and expertise
Professor (Emeritus) Medical Education, University of Dundee, UK, Editor Medical Teacher, UK

YS

Yvonne Steinert

Affiliations and expertise
Professor, Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, USA