DO MEDICAL TEACHERS NEED ACCOUNTABILITY?

A TIME TO THINK
Dr.T.V.Rao MD
India has volume of Medical Teachers but our educational system is
poor and unaccounted, I would not have written an article if I was younger, as I was at the mercy of
many of Senior professors who lives to spend Time and make as much as possible out of the
weaknesses in the system, The quality of teaching has a significant impact on student learning.
Higher standards require more of educators just as they require more of students too interested in
learning exploring the new ideas for future goals in life. Teachers must be knowledgeable about
state and local standards, about the content they teach, and about a range of instructional
approaches that will enable them to help all students. I really feel sad many Teacher just carry the
same message what they have spoken many decades back and do not accept any change as we have
never explored the idea Teacher accountability Teachers and administrators must understand how
to use information from assessments and student work to improve instruction for both individual
students and school programs. However our struggles start when we question what is our role as
Teachers, Many says students are entirely responsible for the failures, I totally disagree that we have
a role to ascertain, Ok it will serve the purpose for some Time but the Institutes and colleges collapse
very soon than later it is exactly happening in many Engineering colleges with no accountability on
Students and very few or inefficient teachers same phenomenon will encroach on the Medical
Colleges, as many Doctors we produce will certainly become non performers or even dangerous too
lacking basic life support skills.
I was reading a wonderful quote of and much impressed to propagate Maya Angelou

This is the value of the teacher, who looks at a face and says there's something behind
that and I want to reach that person, I want to influence that person, I want to encourage
that person, I want to enrich, I want to call out that person who is behind that face,
behind that colour, behind that language, behind that tradition, behind that culture. I
believe you can do it. I know what was done for me.
However we cannot make every Teacher or Student better still we can wish to make a little better
things just think deeply about the subject matter, take on more challenging work, and even pursue
careers in a particular field of study. When I ask the Medical students, they are bored with outdated
ideas of the teachers many hard working, meritorious students wish to progress with their own
search for the better talents as is happening in many Government and Institutes of repute, Years of
research on teacher quality support the fact that effective teachers not only make students feel
good about school/ college and learning, but also that their work actually results in increased
student achievement. Studies have substantiated that a whole range of personal and professional
qualities are associated with higher levels of student achievement. For example, we know that
verbal ability, content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, ability to use a range of teaching
strategies skilfully, and enthusiasm for the subject characterize more successful teachers. The
Medical Council of India is drastically reducing the Teaching ratios between students and Teachers it
is going to be catastrophic as we are producing many graduates who are non-performers, and very
badly performing postgraduates with many non performing Staff who just remain to enjoy the
benefits without accountability as just live for the sake of Medical Council of India regulations, if the
system to continue with effectiveness there would be not only Student assessments but regular

Teacher assessments that teachers want and need feedback, not only on the act of teaching, but
also on the results of teaching. Timely, informative feedback is vital to any improvement effort.

Assessing Teacher Effectiveness

Most educators would agree that they are responsible for student learning, but the profession as a
whole has avoided evaluations based on measures of student learning, sometimes with good reason,
given the unfair approaches that have been proposed. The solution, however, is not to continue with
traditional strategies simply because they are benign and comfortable, and live in comfort Zone but
rather to develop fair and reasonable means of assessing teacher success with students. Developing
fair approaches for the assessment of teacher effectiveness requires an unflinching look at both the
legitimate concerns that have driven the avoidance of a results orientation in the past, and the
promising possibilities that make it more attractive in today's climate of greater accountability for
student learning outcomes. Ultimately, everyone must work together to increase student learning.
Knowing whether their children measure up to common standards helps parents and the public hold
school systems accountable and identify when additional resources are needed and justified.
Medicine is a complex profession however to fix the parameters is difficult, No single test is a perfect
measure of what a students knows and can do. Students learn in many ways and should have many
ways to demonstrate what they have learned. Important educational decisions about a college or
students, We should always take into account relevant information about student achievement in
addition to test scores as many private Institutes market the results as score of success of
departments Professors and Head of the Departments,
I WISH MANY SINCERE TEACHERS TO CONTRIBUTE THEIR BETTER IDEAS AS OUR EDUCATIONAL
SYSTEM IS LIKE JURASIC PARK WAITING FOR DISINTEGRATION AND EXCINTON OF MANY SPECIES OF
TEACHERS
Ref The Power of an Effective Teacher and Why We Should Assess It Linking Teacher Evaluation and
Student Learning by Pamela D. Tucker and James H. Stronge
Dr.T.V.Rao MD professor of Microbiology Freelance Writer