Resident-as-Teacher DVD Series

Introduction The medical education literature shows that residents spend at least 25% of their time teaching, enjoy teaching, consider it important, and agree that teaching improves their clinical knowledge and clinical skills. However, in today's busy training environments, there is limited time to formally train residents as teachers. Methods We developed a multidisciplinary, resident-as-teacher curriculum that includes a DVD series and accompanying self-study and facilitator guides to help program directors, medical educators, and residents take the first step in implementing cross-departmental teacher training. The entire curriculum was presented to all Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) residency program directors and at the Harvard Medical School's Resident-as-Teacher Curriculum Showcase. To date, the departments of medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, surgery, emergency medicine, dermatology, anesthesiology, neurology, and radiology have used the facilitator's guide to lead small-group resident-as-teacher sessions or have engaged their residents in self-study using the guide and videos. The DVD series may be used as part of a resident self-study program, as the basis of a facilitator-led teaching series for house staff, or as preparatory material for “flipped” classroom-type sessions. Results Eleven senior residents, from across departments, and three junior faculty members piloted and assessed the quality of the series. All found the series to be “Quite” or “Extremely Useful” in terms of introducing the skills of clinical teaching and all found the overall quality of the series to be “Excellent.” We also conducted an assessment of the effectiveness of presenting the series in AY2014 and 2015 as part of a “Fourth-Year Boot Camp” to senior Harvard Medical students (n = 22) who were about to start surgical or obstetrics and gynecology residencies. Pre− and post-evaluation of the large-group sessions using the DVD modules, PowerPoint, pocket guide, and facilitator's guide showed that the students perceived significant improvements in several areas in terms of their teaching comfort and confidence. Discussion We are currently conducting a multidisciplinary, clinical teaching observation study to determine the extent to which the series and accompanying guide have an impact on the residents' clinical teaching skills, regardless of department. Preliminary data from this study indicate that during the post-intervention observation, residents are more likely to ask students about their learning goals, encourage more student questions, inquire about the student's perspective on a case, encourage self-directed learning, and provide specific learner feedback.