Developing and Implementing a Systems-Based Residents as Teachers Initiative

Abstract

Using a systems-based approach for developing and implementing a residents as teachers (RaT) initiative follows the trend of systems thinking in health care and medical education, and assures positive outcomes and sustainability. This paper outlines the steps for a systematic, program-wide RaT initiative, using the University of British Columbia (UBC) as a case example. Project period was 2013-2015. Study Design The initiative team surveyed 65 of UBC's then 72 residency programs on their level of involvement and comprehensiveness in teaching residents to teach, which they used to create a 0-4 classification system. A six-topic RaT core curriculum was developed and train-the-trainer sessions were offered to build capacity within programs to customize and deliver the topics. An online scheduling system was used to schedule RaT sessions, track resident attendance, and disseminate evaluation surveys. Results A portion of the programs (n=21, 34%) were classified at Level 0, indicating few to no teaching competencies were taught. After the implementation of RaT in four programs, the majority of residents (n=61, 88%) indicated the overall quality of the educational experience was good or excellent. Most responses (n=2-93, 89-100%) agreed or strongly agreed that learning objectives were met for each RaT topic. Conclusions Implementing a systems-based approach for RaT allows for centralized curriculum, administration, and evaluation, but also allows individual programs to have ownership and responsibility over curriculum adaptation, delivery methods, and faculty and resident engagement. Furthermore, the classification system provides a way to identify program needs and track improvements across all postgraduate residency training.