Dear Faculty,
Gear up for teaching! A new year is upon us with trainees a few months into their residencies and fellowships, students in clerkships and subinternships, and pre-clerkship students just starting up. This is a great time to take stock in your effectiveness as an educator (even if you don’t primarily identify as such) and, through that reflection, take advantage of the many opportunities across our campus to hone your teaching skills.
Step 1- Assess your skills. It’s ideal to start with your own needs assessment. How do you get feedback about your teaching skills? You can self-assess (enhance this by reviewing the ACGME clinician educator milestones!) and review feedback from your teaching evaluations. Review how to view your teaching evaluations from medical students, residents and fellows explained on a recent email from Dean Jessica Illuzzi.
Step 2- Make a plan. Using the information from your self-assessment and teaching evaluations, prioritize areas that need improvement. Set SMART goals for yourself (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) and partner with a colleague or mentor to hold accountability.
Step 3- Utilize resources. Now that you have your specific teaching skill development prioritized, how can you fill the gap? The department and school have a menu of resources from virtual drop-in sessions to more extensive courses on teaching.
- YES! (Yale medical Educator Series) is a bimonthly drop in virtual series covering core clinical and classroom teaching skills. Additional sessions are devoted to enhancing posters, abstracts, and manuscript writing. Sessions start in September and run through May on alternate Fridays at noon. Registration and more information is here.
- Keep an eye out for monthly advertisements for these sessions through Yale Center for Medical Education. A sampling of upcoming sessions includes:
- 9/6/24- Reversing the Tyranny of Powerpoint- Andrés S Martin, MD, PhD
- 9/27/24- Learning Climate- Seonaid Hay, MD, and Vincent Quagliarello, MD
- 10/11/24- Improving Verbal Feedback- Susan Kashaf, MD, MPH, and Uma Phatak, MD
- 10/24/24- Lecturing beyond Powerpoint- Andrés S Martin, MD, PhD
- 11/124- Enhancing Bedside Teaching- Jeff Dewey, MD, MHS
- Keep an eye out for monthly advertisements for these sessions through Yale Center for Medical Education. A sampling of upcoming sessions includes:
- Medical Education Discussion Group (MEDG) explores topics related to education through monthly topics and interdisciplinary participation. More information and schedules can be found here.
- Clinical Teaching Skills seminar- Interested in a deeper dive into teaching skill development? Sign up for the Yale Clinical Teaching Skills which runs for 6 consecutive weeks (90 min- 2 hour sessions once weekly). Join the wait list by contacting Linda Sarro via email at linda.sarro@yale.edu.
- Peer observation of teaching (POT)- One of the most powerful ways to enhance your teaching is through direct observation and feedback. The POT program has been developed for just this purpose- use this request form and a trained associate of the Center for Medical Education can watch you teach in the setting of your choice, from classroom to the wards.
Improving your teaching is within your control, you can access data to assess your needs, plan, and fill the gaps. The trainees and students are depending on you help them advance patient care through your effective teaching! On behalf of the department and school, thank you for all of the dedication and passion that you put into this important effort.
Yours,
Dana Dunne, MD, MHS
Associate Chair for Education and Academic Affairs
Associate DIO, GME Director for Educator Development