Twelve tips for preparing residents as teachers

• Published in: Medical teacher Vol. 29; no. 4; pp. 301 - 306
• Main Authors: Mann, Karen V., Sutton, Evelyn, Frank, Blye
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Informa UK Ltd 01.05.2007; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Courses; Curriculum; Education, Medical, Undergraduate; Educational Opportunities; Electives; Experiential Learning; Faculty; Feedback, Psychological; Goals; Humans; Instructional design; Internship and Residency; Internships; Medical Education; Medical residencies; Medical schools; Medical students; Models, Educational; Needs Assessment; Practice (Psychology); Professional development; Program Development; Program Evaluation; Program Implementation; Staff Development - methods; Teachers; Teaching; Teaching (Occupation); Teaching methods
• ISSN: 0142-159X; 1466-187X
• DOI: 10.1080/01421590701477431

Background: Residents are frequently identified by medical students as their most frequent and memorable teachers; residents also teach their peers, junior and senior colleagues, other health professionals, and their patients. Many will teach in their future practice. Developing the skills to become a teacher is an important part of postgraduate education, and warrants a systematic, planned approach that may include many complementary learning opportunities. Aims: Our purpose is to describe one such approach: a 4-week elective experience in medical education offered to postgraduate learners. Method: The paper describes the background and goals for the elective, and the various steps in planning, implementing, and evaluating such a course, drawing on the literature and mining our own experience for examples. Specifically, we address the following: needs assessment; the determination and selection of content, sequence, and teaching and learning methods; the experiential learning opportunities offered; and the emphasis on the participants' developing self-awareness of themselves as teachers, and as part of a community of teachers. Results: The program implementation, program evaluation, and response to feedback received are described. Conclusion: A 4-week elective experience in medical education was positively received by participants.