Relating Teaching Qualifications

Introduction: Teaching Qualifications (TQs) have been implemented in University Medical Centers, but their relation to teachers’ motivation for medical teaching is unknown. Because teacher motivation influences important outcomes, it is crucial to study how TQs are related to promoting teacher motivation, by fulfilling the basic needs of feeling autonomous, competent, and related towards medical teaching. Aims: To explore relations between TQs and feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness towards medical teaching. Methods: An online questionnaire was used to collect data about teaching at a university hospital. We measured feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness towards medical teaching using the Teaching-related Basic Need Satisfaction scale (TBNS). We applied multivariate regression analysis to examine relations between TQs and basic need satisfaction in teaching. * Corresponding Author: [email protected]. Rik Engbers, Cornelia R. M. G. Fluit, Sanneke Bolhuis et al. 2 Results: A total of 767 medical teachers participated. TQs appear to be related to feeling competent in teaching. Higher TQ levels are not related to higher feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness towards medical teaching. Conclusion: The results imply that appealing to non-qualified teachers’ feelings of competence towards medical teaching may stir up their enthusiasm for TQ policy. They also call for robust teaching positions to build teaching experience, preferably as early as possible, and for assessing the importance applicants attach to education in job interviews.