Students' and physicians' evaluations of gynecologic teaching associate program.

Gynecologic teaching associates (GTAs) taught third-year medical students to perform physical examination of the female pelvis and breasts. Evaluations by the students of this teaching method and assessment by the GTAs of student problems with the examinations were obtained from questionnaires completed immediately after the single three-hour teaching sessions. A follow-up questionnaire was sent to the program's first-year participants. Items were rated on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The GTAs found student problems in 30 percent of the encounters. The students gave high ratings to the learning experience. The graduates strongly agreed that the program should be continued (4.21) and felt that the program most improved their ability to perform the pelvic examination (4.15).