Residents as Teachers Program Reaches Milestone (inaccessible)

For the first time, almost 100 Beaumont Health System medical residents and fellows elevated their teaching skills as participants in the inaugural Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine (OUWB) Residents as Teachers program.

The program allows medical residents and fellows, who have no formal instruction in teaching, to develop confidence in their abilities to communicate with medical students using meaningful and beneficial techniques. The curriculum follows the Stanford University Faculty Development Center model created by Kelley Skeff, M.D., Ph.D., a renowned physician, and Georgette Stratos, Ph.D., co-directors of the center.

“In preparing for our first cohort of M3 clinical-year students, we recognized that every element of the learning environment they would be encountering should promote an optimal educational experience,” said Jeffrey Devries, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean for Graduate Medical Education and professor, Department of Internal Medicine, OUWB. “In light of the prominent teaching and role-modeling provided by residents and fellows on a day-to-day basis, we wanted to ensure that the quality of that teaching would be consistently first-rate. The Residents as Teachers program was designed to ensure that our students would be taught by highly skilled physicians, both at the resident and faculty levels.”

The program offered medical residents two-hour classes, once a month, taught by course instructors who had been trained in the Stanford methods. In the sessions, they learn to use a variety of teaching methods, identify teaching goals and adapt teaching to students’ needs, perspectives and expectations.

“This program gave me the tools and confidence that I needed to be a more effective teacher for my students and junior residents,” said Alanna Albano, D.O., Internal Medicine/Pediatrics. “I have been taught a valuable set of skills that I can use both now and for the rest of my career as a physician teaching others.”

Over the past 10 months, the dedicated participants voluntarily attended class during the morning (7 a.m.) or evening (5:30 p.m.) session to learn how to increase awareness of their roles and responsibilities as teachers.

“We are very proud of the teaching accomplishments of our first cohort of Residents as Teachers graduates. The high quality of teaching will further enhance the learning environment and professionalism perceived by our students, residents, medical personnel, and, most importantly, the patients we serve,” said DeVries.
The Residents as Teachers program began in August 2013 and concluded with 48 residents receiving a certificate of advanced medical education from their specialty program directors.