Resident as Teacher and Leader

Teaching and Leadership skills are critical to the success of residents and board certified internists. While role models can help residents identify the skills that they aspire to learn, the best teachers marry this observation of role models with formal training in teaching and leadership skills.  The OSUMC Internal Medicine Residency provides many opportunities for residents to acquire and hone their skills in teaching and leadership.

All Residents:

Learn key teaching skills during workshops sessions integrated into the core curriculum. Topics include:
     o Feedback and Evaluation
     o Teaching clinical problem solving
     o Dealing with problem learners
     o Effective Lectures using Power Point
Participate in a one day workshop on transitioning from internship to residency.  This workshop involves:
     o Didactic presentations on leadership: Agenda setting, time management, negotiation skills, conflict resolution skills
     o Didactic presentations on teaching: establishing a good learning climate, effective questioning skills, teaching, observing and assessing procedural skills
     o Simulation based hands-on sessions:
          - Code Blue Leadership Training using a high fidelity METI® Simulator
          - Standardized Learners to provide realistic opportunities to practice teaching skills
          - Standardized Nurses and Faculty to provide realistic practice of conflict resolution and negotiation skills.
Have Access to Monthly Faculty Development Workshops. Recent Topics have included:
     o Question Writing
     o Effective Teaching when Time is Tight
     o Using Technology to Teach Physical Diagnosis
     o What is Validity, Anyway?
     o Feedback on the Fly
     o Why Johnnie Can’t Learn

Education Electives for Residents and Interns:

Medical Education Elective:  Residents choosing a medical education elective are exposed to the variety of educational tasks that a typical clinician educator would encounter in their professional career.  Under the guidance of the department’s expert clinician educators, the residents:
     o Write and implement a curriculum of their choosing
     o Learn about optimal strategies for lecturing and small group teaching
     o Participate in small group teaching of physical diagnosis, learning to use technology to supplement the available patient encounters
     o Receive feedback on their own teaching skills
     o Learn how to peer review teaching encounters and provide feedback and coaching to their colleagues.

Capstone Elective: Selected Residents interested in teaching clinical problem solving are invited to participate in teaching clinical problem solving to second year medical students.  These residents serve as small group facilitators for this problem based learning course. In addition, they provide lectures, grade papers, and coach students who have difficulty mastering the necessary concepts. Interested residents can engage in question writing activities for the final exam.

Educational Scholarship Elective:  Residents interested in carrying out a research project on an educational topic work with faculty in the College’s Office for Scholarship in Medical Education. 

Leadership and Citizenship Opportunities:

OSUMC IM Residents are active participants in many departmental, hospital and college committees. Through participation in these committees and task forces, residents gain insight into the impact physicians have in shaping their community and work place. All Residents participate in an Educational Innovations Project Design Group, focusing on the outpatient arena, inpatient wards or critical care units.

A sampling of other committees with active resident involvement includes:

Departmental:
     o Honor and Professionalism Committee: Reviews issues that arise involving professional conduct.  Residents nominate committee members from among their peers who then review cases with the assistance of a faculty mentor.  The committee provides the program leadership with recommendations on dealing with lapses in professionalism.
     o Housestaff Education Committee: Reviews program evaluations and decides on future goals and initiatives of the residency program; identifies opportunities for improvement through discussion and survey techniques.
     o Departmental Risk Management Committee: Reviews opportunities to minimize physician exposure to legal actions; optimizes care strategies to minimize legal risk.
Hospital:
     o Residents Advisory Committee (RAC):  This group is composed of resident representatives from all programs.  It focuses on issues of interest to the residents, including call rooms, on call food, various institutional policies and procedures.
     o Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee: This committee makes decisions regarding the hospital formulary.
     o Code Blue Committee:  This committee reviews every code blue outcome and looks for opportunities for improved care of critically ill patients.
College:
     o Professionalism Education Committee:  The PEC is developing a comprehensive educational program to ensure that all medical center professionals and employees embrace the behaviors of professionalism.
     o Professionalism Clinical Care Committee:  The PCCC works to identify and remove barriers to professional behavior in the clinical setting and to identify strategies for rewarding professionalism and dealing with unprofessional performance.