SN 32 Francis Gabriel G.

Quiatchon
2BMT
THE ART OF TEACHING MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
For many years people have been debating whether teaching medical
technology is more inclined to art or to science, and which of these two would be
more effective to use in teaching the field of Medical Technology. Even I had a hard
time deciding which is the more effective way of teaching as the fields of art and
science are forever intertwined in the system of education. As taken from Sadhu
Panda's Medicine: Science or Art?, teaching it is "an art, based on science". But
after reading several other articles regarding the topic, I would say teaching Medical
Technology would be better off as an art. It might seem to be a weird choice coming
from a student of a course that is bombarded and riddled with scientific studies and
technical terminologies. Yes, it is odd, because there is really little to no art in the
subject. However, what I'm saying is that teaching it must involve art, the creativity
of the teacher and not just skill alone in order to ignite the interest of the learners.
Despite the linear orientation of the course, very direct and exact, the students
must also be taught how to be flexible despite that, and there is no better way for
them to be like that than to have a teacher who teaches the subject as an art. Taken
from Dennis Weisman's An Essay on the Art and Science of Teaching, if the subject
is already technical and heavy, and the teacher does not integrate art into teaching
it, efficient learning may not take place. The fact that every student is unique must
also be considered. Each student has their own set of capabilities and specialties.
Taken from Weisman's essay again, Effective teaching entails transmitting the
subject matter on a number of different frequencies to accommodate the
heterogeneous nature of how students learn. Each student has their own learning
"style" that suits them, and not all students possess superior intellect. The teacher
must have an adaptive teaching style so as to accommodate the needs of the
students, and this is the art of teaching. This is important because almost all the
information taught in this course are already difficult, so students need some form
of help in order to easily absorb all the information the teacher is feeding them.
Based on my own experience, I have encountered lots of very intelligent professors.
I could say that they are intelligent because of all the knowledge they possess and
try to impart to us. However, most of them fail to apply art in teaching. They would
just blurt out all the information stated in the syllabus and that's it. Somehow they
don't take into account how the students would absorb them, let alone care about
how interested they are in learning. It is a very big factor because robotic teaching
is usually an inefficient way to learn the intellect of the professors are wasted, and
the opportunity for the students to apply in their lives the things they learn vanish.
Medical Technology students would not be in front of the pen and paper forever.
They need something that would inspire them not just to become intelligent Medical
Technologists, but MedTechs with a heart, and this is why the art of teaching is
important.