Putting residents in the driver's seat: a new approach to teaching group medical visits

Despite potential benefits of group medical visits (GMVs) for patients with diabetes, little has been published regarding resident training to conduct GMVs. Constraints of residency may limit their participation in GMVs, making transfer of skills to future practice less likely. We developed a novel curriculum that puts family medicine residents in charge of leading "mini-GMVs" with patients from their own continuity panels.

After a series of skill-building seminars, each third-year resident, with support from one to two faculty members, conducted a series of mini-GMVs with three to four of his/her own patients with diabetes. Faculty provided feedback during a debriefing at the end of each visit. The curriculum was evaluated using structured resident interviews and serial faculty ratings of resident performance in the groups.

Over 2 years, 24 residents participated, each performing an average of 5.3 visits. Patient recruitment was a significant challenge. Faculty ratings of resident skills showed significant improvements in many key skills from first to last evaluations, and 91% of residents reported feeling adequately prepared to conduct GMVs.

With preparation for, practice, and feedback on leading mini-GMVs, family medicine residents demonstrated improved skills for conducting GMVs.