Teaching Future Teachers: Development of a Students-as-Teachers Advanced Elective for Post-Clerkship Medical Students.

Abstract

Although teaching is an essential part of Graduate Medical Education and the practice of medicine, it is not often formally taught in Undergraduate Medical Education. Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM) has addressed this gap by creating a year-long Students-as-Teachers elective for post-clerkship medical students. The elective utilizes diverse activities to emphasize core tenets of medical education theory while simultaneously providing authentic teaching opportunities. The success of the elective is primarily attributable to its structure and design, the collaborative and supportive medical education environment, and student initiative and engagement. This manuscript describes the implementation and outcomes of the Students-as-Teachers elective.