Abstract
ABSTRACTObjectives: According to the CanMEDS’ Scholar competency, physicians are expected to facilitate the learning of colleagues, patients and other health professionals. However, most medical students are not provided with formal opportunities to gain teaching experience with objective feedback.Methods: To address this, the University’s Medical Education Interest Group (MEIG) created a pilot teaching program in January 2015 entitled ‘MedTalks’. Four 3-hour sessions were held at the University Faculty of Medicine, where first and second year medical students taught clinically oriented topics to undergraduate university students. Each extracurricular session included three 30-minute content lectures, and a 90-minute small group session on physical examination skills. Each medical student-teacher received formal feedback from undergraduate students and from faculty educators regarding teaching style, communication abilities, and professionalism. In addition, medical student-teachers self-evaluated their own teaching experience.Results: Over 50 medical students from the University participated as medical student-teachers. Based on quantitative and qualitative evaluation surveys, 100% of medical students agreed that MedTalks was a useful way to develop teaching skills and 92% gained a greater confidence in individual teaching capabilities, based largely on the opportunity to gain experience (with feedback) in teaching roles.Conclusions: A program designed to give medical students multi-source teaching experience (lecture- and small group-based) and feedback on their teaching (from learners and Faculty observers, in addition to their own self-reflection) can improve medical student confidence and enthusiasm towards teaching. Future studies will clarify if medical student self-perceived enhancements in teaching ability can be corroborated by independent (Faculty, learner) observations of future teaching activity.
Highlights
In 2005, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada established seven formal roles to guide the practice of all Canadian physicians
The few medical student teaching programs that are characterized in the literature do not typically offer student-teachers the benefit of objective feedback regarding their performance [4]
The written feedback was collected by MedTalks organizers and provided to the medical student-teachers immediately after their teaching activities were completed
Summary
In 2005, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada established seven formal roles to guide the practice of all Canadian physicians. Several studies have demonstrated numerous benefits for engaging in clinical teaching, including enhanced communication skills and physician-patient interaction, stronger knowledge-base and skill development, and engagement in future formal teaching roles [2,3,4]. Despite these benefits and College requirements, most Canadian medical schools do not provide formal training opportunities for medical students in educator roles. Individuals report increased confidence and preparedness to teach in residency after engaging in curricula to formally develop essential teaching
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