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Developing internal medicine subspecialty fellows' teaching skills: a needs assessment
Jakob I McSparron1, Grace C Huang2, Eli M Miloslavsky3
1Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Michigan, 3916 Taubman Center, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
BMC Medical Education
|September 26, 2018
Summary
Internal medicine fellows desire teaching skill development but lack formal training opportunities. Enhancing fellowship programs can improve educator training and patient care.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Physician Training
- Academic Medicine
Background:
- Teaching is a core competency for academic physicians.
- Educator training programs are increasingly common for residents and medical students.
- Clinical fellowships offer a crucial, yet underutilized, opportunity to advance physician-as-teacher training.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the needs and interests of internal medicine subspecialty fellows regarding teaching skills development.
- To evaluate current access to "fellow-as-teacher" programs within internal medicine fellowships.
- To understand fellows' attitudes towards teaching and their desire for enhanced training.
Main Methods:
- A multi-institutional needs assessment was conducted.
- Internal medicine subspecialty fellows at three academic medical centers were surveyed.
- The survey queried access to teaching skills programs, feedback mechanisms, and attitudes toward teaching.
Main Results:
- A 48% response rate from 183 fellows across 20 programs and nine subspecialties was achieved.
- 67% of fellows reported no specific teaching skills training, and only 12% received regular feedback.
- 79% of fellows anticipate teaching in their careers, with strong interest in skill-improvement programs.
Conclusions:
- Most fellows lack formal opportunities to develop teaching skills during their subspecialty training.
- There is a significant unmet need and strong interest in "fellow-as-teacher" programs.
- Subspecialty fellowships represent a missed opportunity to cultivate future medical educators.