Resident as teacher: the Mount Sinai experience and a review of the literature

Abstract

Residents play a pivotal role in the education of medical students and junior house staff but are rarely provided with the tools to help them teach effectively. Residents value their roles as teachers and desire training programs in teaching skills. Teaching skills courses for residents have been shown to improve residents' self-confidence and self-assessed use of effective teaching behaviors. They have also been shown to improve residents' evaluations by students. The Institute for Medical Education at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine has developed a successful, multidisciplinary curriculum to improve the teaching and leadership skills of all of our residents at the Mount Sinai Hospital and its affiliate institutions. The Resident Teaching Development Program (RTDP) has already been implemented in the departments of Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Obstetrics and Gynecology. This adaptable, seven-hour curriculum has been well received by residents and faculty. We are currently evaluating the effects of the program on residents' confidence and use of learned skills. And we are working to expand this program to every department and to create innovative means of measuring resident competency in teaching and its ultimate effect on student learning.