Resident-as-teacher
Residents are frequently identified by medical students as memorable teachers.1 Nearly two-thirds of residents receive more than 40% of their education from other fellow residents.2 Senior residents are entrusted with the responsibility of 80% of teaching of interns and medical students even when they do not want to pursue a teaching career later.3 Studies also show that residents conduct more teaching at the bedside compared to attending consultants;4 nevertheless, they receive no formal instruction on how to teach effectively. Resident-as-teacher courses are flourishing in Western medical schools, with negligible published information from Asian and developing countries.5 In this context, to optimize the teaching skills of residents and provide them with formal teacher training, the Medical Education Unit (MEU) of the University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS), Delhi proposed a resident-as-teacher program.
A three day orientation workshop was designed by the MEU and was named Senior Resident Training on Educational Principles (STEP). It was conducted from 26-28 July 2010. The objective of STEP was to provide the residents a repertoire of pedagogical practices from which to plan, implement and evaluate their own teaching to engage students in the learning process, to demonstrate competence and skill in understanding and using a range of assessment methods, to give feedback in an appropriate manner and to employ goal-seeking behavior and team-work in medical education. The experience gained by Medical Education Unit of University College of Medical Sciences can be used to conduct training breeding grounds at national or regional levels. Resident-as-teacher is the special-interest-group of Dr Satendra Singh who was the program coordinator of STEP 2010.
References
1. Mann KV, Sutton E, Frank B. Twelve tips for preparing residents as teachers. Med Teach. 2007;29(4):301-6.
2. Brown RS. House staff attitudes toward teaching. J Med Educ. 1970;45:156-9.
3. Edwards JC, Friedland JA, Bing-You R, (Eds): Residents’ Teaching Skills. Springer Series on Medical Education. New York: Springer 2002.
4. Treemonti LP, Biddle WB. Teaching behaviors of residents and faculty members. J Med Educ. 1982;57:854–9.
5. Sánchez-Mendiola M, Graue-Wiechers EL, Ruiz-Pérez LC, Rocío García-Durán R, Durante-Montiel I. The resident-as-teacher educational challenge: a needs assessment survey at the National Autonomous University of Mexico Faculty of Medicine. BMC Medical Education. 2010;10:17.
