How Does the Novice Become the Expert? An Instrumental Case Study of Procedural Educators

The classic paradigm of procedural education in medical training has involved trainees learning and performing invasive bedside procedures and subsequently teaching these procedures to more junior trainees. Many existing resident-as-teacher curricula focus on cognitive domains; there has been a lack of literature examining the transition from learner to teacher in procedural education. This hypothesis-generating instrumental case study explored how expert procedural educators transitioned from novice procedural educators to experts.

A constructivist approach with semistructured interviews was used to explore the individual narratives and experiences of faculty of the Hospitalist Procedure Service at the University of California San Francisco as they reflected on their journey from learners to teachers, focusing on the faculty of the hospitalist procedure team at the University of California San Francisco. All 12 Hospitalist Procedure Service faculty members received invitations to be interviewed, and 9 agreed to participate. Interviews were conducted between July and October 2023.

The 9 interviews created a rich and complex picture of the individual experiences and perceptions of procedural teaching. The faculty members varied in experience, ranging from 2 years on the procedure service faculty to more than 15 years of experience. Four main themes emerged from the interviews: methods for building teaching skills, tools that facilitate further educator growth, essential behaviors of effective educators, and common challenges. Inductive thematic analysis revealed trial and error as a major means of building procedural pedagogy and the use of precise communication as a crucial skill to manage learner cognitive load and the emotional challenges associated with learning and teaching procedures.

The use of precise communication as a tool for both educator and learner to navigate the complexities of procedural teaching highlights the essential role of clear instruction and feedback in the learning process.