Training Tomorrow's Medical Education Leaders: Creating a General Pediatric Master Educator Fellowship

Abstract

From the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine/Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH uring the past decade, the need for proficient and inspiring clinician educators in pediatric graduate medical education has become increasingly critical with the evolving work hour changes and increasing content requirements in medical student, resident, and fellow training. General pediatrics divisions are mainly responsible for resident continuity clinics and provide a large percentage of the leadership and teaching for both residency programs andmedical student clerkships, making training in education for these individuals essential. Traditionally, training in academic pediatric fellowships intensively focuses on research methodology and outcomes, and training in education was secondary. We believe medical educator training requires an equally rigorous approach to learn to create innovative curricula while effectively evaluating their impact on physicians’ skills, behaviors, and, ultimately, associated patient health care outcomes. Additionally, there is an increasing recognition that leadership training for academic pediatricians is required to prepare physicians to respond to new roles and responsibilities, such as leading faculty development programs, quality improvement projects, and strategic planning, and promoting evidence-based medicine and health care policy changes. To address these needs, an innovative General Pediatrics Master Educator Fellowship (GPMEF) was launched at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in fall 2011 to formally train general pediatricians in the science of education via a unique curriculum focusing on educational scholarship and research, structured learning experiences in clinical teaching, and fostering of leadership skills. This GPMEF is uniquely designed to create a cadre of medical educators trained in educational innovation, evaluation, research methodology, and academic leadership.