A Survey of American and Canadian Psychiatry Residents on Their Training, Teaching Practices, and Attitudes Toward Teaching

Abstract

Objective: Formal training for residents-as-teachers in psychiatry is increasingly emphasized. However, little is known about the quantity and content of residents' teaching, their attitudes toward teaching, or the training received on how to teach.

Methods: An online survey was disseminated to American and Canadian psychiatry residents.

Results: Three hundred eighty-two residents from all postgraduate years (PGY) responded, representing about 7 % of all trainees. About half of PGY-1 have not received residents-as-teachers training, but by PGY-3 most have. The majority of respondents reported teaching, most commonly 1-5 h. Most found teaching enjoyable or rewarding (n = 304; 87 %); however, 40 % (n = 138) found teaching burdensome, 43 % (n = 151) lacked sufficient time to teach, and many (n = 226; 64 %) reported insufficient feedback from supervisors.

Conclusions: Although the sampling methodology and low response rate limit the generalizability of findings, respondents typically seemed to value teaching, though the majority felt that they lacked feedback on their teaching skills.

Keywords: Education; Internship and residency; Resident as educator; Resident as teacher; Teaching.