The preferred learning style among residents and faculty members of an internal medicine residency program

Objective: To determine the preferred learning style, as defined by David Kolb, and predictors of the different learning styles among residents and faculty members at an internal medicine residency program. Design/Setting: A cross sectional study of internal medicine residents and faculty members at Morehouse School of Medicine was performed using the Kolb Learning Style Inventory (LSI) version 3.1. Measurements: The Kolb LSI is a questionnaire of 12 sentences, each with four phrases for sentence completion that are to be ranked according to how they apply to the subject. Results: Forty-two out of 59 questionnaires that were given out to residents and attending physicians were properly completed and returned. Assimilating style was the predominant learning style among residents (42%) and attending physicians (55%). There was no significant association between age, gender or medical education status, and learning styles. Conclusions: The understanding of residents' learning styles may facilitate instructional rapport between residents and attending physicians, thereby improving residents' academic performance.