Future: new strategies for hospitalists to overcome challenges in teaching on today's wards

Abstract

Changes in the clinical learning environment under resident duty hours restrictions have introduced a number of challenges on today's wards. Additionally, the current group of medical trainees is largely represented by the Millennial Generation, a generation characterized by an affinity for technology, interaction, and group-based learning. Special attention must be paid to take into account the learning needs of a generation that has only ever known life with duty hours. A mnemonic for strategies to augment teaching rounds for hospitalists was created using an approach that considers time limitations due to duty hours as well as the preferences of Millennial learners. These strategies to enhance learning during teaching rounds are Flipping the Wards, Using Documentation to Teach, Technology-Enabled Teaching, Using Guerilla Teaching Tactics, Rainy Day Teaching, and Embedding Teaching Moments into Rounds (FUTURE). Hospitalists serving as teaching attendings should consider these possible strategies as ways to enhance teaching in the post-duty hours era. These techniques appeal to the preferences of today's learners in an environment often limited by time constraints. Hospitalists are well positioned to champion innovative approaches to teaching in a dynamic and evolving clinical learning environment.