Are Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Fellowships Teaching and Evaluating Communication and Professionalism?*

Abstract

Objective To describe the teaching and evaluation modalities utilized by pediatric critical care medicine (PCCM) training programs in the areas of professionalism and communication. Design Cross sectional national survey. Setting PCCM fellowship programs. Subjects PCCM program directors. Interventions None. Measurements and Main Results Survey response rate was 67% of program directors in the United States, representing educators for 73% of current PCCM fellows. Respondents had a median of 4 years experience, with a median of 7 fellows and 12 teaching faculty in his/her program. Faculty role modeling or direct observation with feedback were the most common modalities used to teach communication. However, 6 of the 8 (75%) required elements of communication evaluated were not specifically taught by all programs. Faculty role modeling was the most commonly utilized technique to teach professionalism in 44% of the content areas evaluated, and didactics were the technique utilized in 44% of other professionalism content areas. Thirteen of the 16 required elements of professionalism (81%) were not taught by all programs. Evaluations by members of the healthcare team were used for assessment for both competencies. The use of a specific teaching technique was not related to program size, program director experience, or training in medical education. Conclusions A wide range of techniques are currently utilized within PCCM to teach communication and professionalism, but there are a number of required elements that are not specifically taught by fellowship programs. These areas of deficiency represent opportunities for future investigation and improved education in the important competencies of communication and professionalism.

Professionalism and Communication Education in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine: The Learner Perspective

“…While fellows perceive that many faculty do not intentionally teach by role modeling, prior data would suggest that faculty view this technique as a crucial technique 9 . Of note, over half of fellows reported that faculty role modeling behaviors observed were “mostly positive with some negative behaviors.” While observed role modeling behaviors are more often positive, fellows reported that faculty behaviors were negative as often as they were positive for both communication (25%) and professionalism (21%).…”

“…Investigators, developed a 29 question survey using the modified Delphi technique to be administered to PCCM fellows. This questionnaire was adapted from a previously conducted survey of PCCM fellowship program directors which was based on ACGME and American Board of Pediatrics requirements for teaching of communication and professionalism 4, 9, 13 . The final survey included 11 questions regarding specific elements of teaching and evaluating communication, 11 addressing elements of teaching and evaluating professionalism, 5 demographic questions and 2 qualitative questions concerning perceptions of teaching and evaluating communication and professionalism.…”

“…The survey was sent to 25 non-PCCM pediatric subspecialty fellows for piloting to further address the clarity of the questions, along with the content, format, and length. To improve consistency of responses, specific definitions of the teaching techniques were included with the survey as described previously 9 . The anonymous survey was then sent electronically to all 283 PCCM fellows in training in the United States.…”

“…In a recent investigation, our education research collaborative reported the most common techniques utilized by Pediatric Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) program directors to teach professionalism and communication 9 . That survey identified a significant number of elements within both professionalism and communication in which PCCM programs provided little training 9 .…”

“…That survey identified a significant number of elements within both professionalism and communication in which PCCM programs provided little training 9 . These data were provided by program directors and it was hypothesized that trainees may identify more or different elements of communication and professionalism in which instruction is lacking.…”