Prior Teaching Experience and Barriers to Effective Resident Teaching: A Cross-Sectional Study

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Graduate Medical Education
• Physician Training

Background:

• Resident physicians are crucial educators for future healthcare providers.
• Limited research exists on factors influencing effective resident teaching, including preresidency experiences and residency barriers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine residents' prior teaching experience and its correlation with teaching attitudes.
• To identify potential barriers to sustained resident teaching engagement.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional survey of residents across multiple specialties at an academic center.
• Assessment of preresidency teaching experience, perceived barriers, and teaching attitudes.
• Univariate and multivariate analyses to identify differences in teaching attitudes based on prior experience and gender.

Main Results:

• 69.6% of residents had prior formal teaching experience.
• Prior teaching experience and male gender were associated with feeling prepared to teach medical students (P=.014 and P=.001, respectively).
• Common barriers included time constraints (73.9%), lack of content clarity (28.3%), and uncertainty about teaching methods (33.7%).

Conclusions:

• Prior teaching experience enhances resident preparedness, content clarity, and confidence in teaching.
• Significant barriers to effective resident teaching include time, clarity of content, teaching methods, and perceived student disinterest.
• Addressing these barriers is vital for optimizing medical student education.