Twelve tips for overnight teaching.

Background: The European Working Time Directive and the United States' duty hour restrictions have changed resident physicians' schedules, specifically increasing overnight shifts and decreasing overall time spent in the hospital. As residents' perception of night shifts is that they have little educational value, efforts to improve educational opportunities and night attending teaching are desirable. However, resources about and recommendations for best practices for overnight teaching by faculty are scarce.
Aim: To provide 12 tips to highlight strategies intended to optimize attending physicians' overnight teaching skills and strategies.
Method: The tips provided are based on our experiences and reflections as in-house faculty supervising residents working overnight, by our experience and group discussions as medical educators, and the available literature.
Results: The 12 tips presented offer specific strategies to optimize attending physicians' overnight teaching for resident physicians, specifically highlighting the unique logistics, pedagogy and follow-up of overnight teaching.
Conclusion: Preparation for teaching is important in any environment, but understanding the unique timing and circumstances associated with overnight teaching is vital to ensure that overnight teaching is effective. Acknowledging and addressing the physical and cognitive obstacles associated with overnight teaching and learning is necessary to maximize the educational value of overnight teaching.