Using a Commercially Available Web-Based Evaluation System to Enhance Residents' Teaching

Abstract

Background Residents-as-teachers (RATs) programs have been shown to improve trainees' teaching skills, yet these decline over time. Intervention We adapted a commercial Web-based system to maintain resident teaching skills through reflection and deliberate practice and assessed the system's ability to (1) prevent deterioration of resident teaching skills and (2) provide information to improve residents' teaching skills and teaching program quality. Methods Ten first-year obstetrics-gynecology (Ob-Gyn) residents participated in a RATs program. Following the program, they used a commercial evaluation system to complete self-assessments of their teaching encounters with medical students. Students also evaluated the residents. To assess the system's effectiveness, we compared these residents to historical controls with an Objective Structured Teaching Examination (OSTE) and analyzed the ratings and the free text comments of residents and students to explore teaching challenges and improve the RATs program. Results The intervention group outscored the control group on the OSTE (mean score ± SD = 81 ± 8 versus 74 ± 7; P = .05, using a 2-tailed Student t-test). Rating scale analysis showed resident self-assessments were consistently lower than student evaluations, with the difference reaching statistical significance in 3 of 6 skills (P < .05). Comments revealed that residents most valued using innovative teaching techniques, while students most valued a positive educational climate and interpersonal connections with residents. Recommended targets for RATs program improvement included teaching feedback, time-limited teaching, and modeling professionalism behaviors. Conclusions Our novel electronic Web-based reinforcement system shows promise in preventing deterioration of resident teaching skills learned during an Ob-Gyn RATs program. The system also was effective in gaining resident and student insights to improve RATs programs. Because our intervention was built upon a commercially available program, our approach could prove useful to the large population of current subscribers.

Adherence to Trained Standards After a Faculty Development Workshop on “Teaching With Simulated Patients”

“…Former studies and reviews point in the same direction, with longer programs, like seminar series, showing better and more sustainable results [ 1 ]. With workshops as one-time interventions, different authors suggest refresher or follow-ups to maintain the quality of teaching [ 32 ], [ 33 ].…”

Developing and Implementing a Systems-Based Residents as Teachers Initiative

“…Based on the title and abstract review, we fully reviewed 14 additional articles on RaT of which 13 were relevant (Butani et al, 2013;Donato and Harris, 2013;Donovan, 2011;Keller et al, 2012;Lachman, Christensen, and Pawlina, 2013;Lakshmanan et al, 2014;Patocka, Meyers, and Delaney, 2011;Peyre et al, 2011;Ricciotti et al, 2012;Smith and Kohlwes, 2011;Snydman et al, 2013;Wachtel, Greenberg et al, 2013;Yuan et al, 2014). Current trends in the literature are that 1) RaT programs vary in content and design, with mostly discipline-specific, one-off deliveries; 2) program evaluations are not conducted aside from some assessments of resident teaching; and 3) a learner-centered approach should be incorporated into program development and implementation (Jarvis-Selinger et al, 2011).…”