Fellow As Teacher Curriculum: Improving Rheumatology Fellows' Teaching Skills during Inpatient Consultation

Abstract

Objective Enhancing rheumatology fellows' teaching skills in the setting of inpatient consultation may have a broad positive impact. Such efforts may improve fellows' clinical skills and overall patient care. Most importantly, effective resident-fellow teaching interactions may not only increase residents' knowledge of rheumatology but may influence their career choice. However, a number of barriers to the resident-fellow teaching interaction have been identified, including fellows' teaching skills. We developed the Fellow As Clinical Teacher (FACT) curriculum in order to enhance fellows' teaching skills during inpatient consultation. Methods The FACT curriculum was delivered in two 45-minute workshops during the 3-day Winter Symposium of the Carolinas Fellows Collaborative. We evaluated its effect with self-assessment surveys and fellow performance on the objective structured teaching exercise (OSTE) before and after participation in the curriculum. Results Nineteen fellows from 4 rheumatology training programs participated in the pre- and post-curriculum OSTEs and 18 fellows completed pre- and post-curriculum surveys. OSTE scores improved on 5 of the 8 items assessed, and the total OSTE score improved as well (34.7 versus 29.5; P < 0.01) after the FACT curriculum. Fellows' self-assessment of their teaching skills and intent to teach during consultation also increased after participation in the curriculum. Conclusion The FACT curriculum, focused on teaching during consultation, improved fellows' teaching skills and attitudes toward teaching. Improving and increasing fellow teaching, particularly in the consultation setting, may impact patient care, resident and fellow learning, and teaching skills of future faculty, and could potentially influence residents' career choice.