Teaching to Teach: A Scoping Review of Teaching Skill-Development Programs across Medical Education

Teaching is an integral part of the day-to-day responsibilities of physicians and physicians-in-training. We provide an overview across the medical education continuum of who is being trained how to teach, the methods of delivery used, and the effectiveness of the program in improving teacher confidence and teaching skills to improve the execution of teaching training programs.

In October 2020, the authors conducted a scoping review, systematically searching six databases (PubMed, Embase, MEDLINE, Cochrane, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Web of Science) for literature dating back to 2010 describing interventions aimed at teaching physicians or physicians-in-training how to teach effectively. Four authors screened the articles for inclusion based on title and key words. Four authors reviewed all of the articles selected to identify key features, including manuscript citation, study design, study institution, demographic information, course description, and efficacy, and entered the data into a Qualtrics survey. Two authors then analyzed the data extracted.

Of 23,409 potentially eligible studies, 163 were included. The populations studied included medical students (17%), residents (55%), fellows (13%), faculty/attendings (23%), and other (4%). The length of the training interventions ranged from half a day or less to longer than 1 year. Multiple instructional methods were used including lecture (71), observed teaching in action (71), case-based learning (34), learner feedback (24), modules (25), objective structured teaching exercises (19), essays/writing assignments (11), portfolio and/or personal teaching philosophy development (5), and tests/examinations (4). Evaluation methods varied, and efficacy was measured by an improvement in confidence in teaching abilities (61), in self-reported teaching abilities (59), objective structured teaching exercises scores (3), and an increased interest in academic medicine (33).

Current programs designed to teach medical students, residents, and physicians how to teach vary widely. We propose that future research is needed to advance the instruction of physicians and physicians-in-training on how to be effective clinical educators.