Poster2-06: “RESIDENTS AS TEACHERS” IMPROVES KNOWLEDGE, CONFIDENCE, AND FEEDBACK SKILLS
Mark J Anderson, MD, Asya Ofshteyn, MD, John Ammori, MD, Megan Miller, MD, Emily Steinhagen, MD; Case Western / University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center

Background: Surgical residents receive limited formal training in education, yet they are expected to teach medical students and one another. We developed and implemented a “Residents as Teachers” curriculum to address the need for educational training identified by resident self-assessment. Goals were to improve residents’ knowledge of educational strategies, confidence in teaching abilities, and quality of feedback to learners.

Methods: A 6-hour interactive workshop was delivered at an academic general surgery residency program by faculty with expertise in surgical education. It included 3 sessions. “Teaching on the wards” focused on theories of adult education and techniques for teaching with limited time. “How to give and receive feedback” included an interactive practice session. “Teaching in the OR” addressed barriers to effective intraoperative teaching and strategies to promote operative autonomy. De-identified pre- and post-curriculum surveys were administered to evaluate participants’ knowledge and confidence regarding teaching skills. Standard statistical analyses were used to compare pre- and post-curriculum scores.

Results: Twenty-four residents completed the course and surveys. On a 5-point Likert scale, residents' self-rating of teaching skills (pre=1.8, post=3.04, p<0.001) and understanding of adult learning (pre=1.88, post=4.42, p<0.001) improved significantly. The greatest gain was in describing effective strategies for teaching in the OR (pre=1.75, post=4.38, p<0.001). Residents reported improved understanding of effective feedback characteristics (pre=2.5, post=4.33, p<0.001), and felt more prepared to provide feedback to learners (pre=2.73, post=3.17, p=0.01). Scores on five of ten knowledge-based questions significantly improved post-workshop. These included items related to assessing learners’ knowledge (pre=15%, post=83%, p<0.001), adult learning (pre=31%, post=67%, p=0.01), and the Zwisch Scale (pre=42%, post=79%, p=0.01). All participants agreed or strongly agreed that the workshop improved the program’s surgical education curriculum (mean score 4.42 of 5).

Conclusions: A “Residents as Teachers” curriculum workshop improved resident confidence in teaching and feedback skills, particularly for intraoperative instruction. Participant knowledge increased in the educational domains from each content-based session. The program used existing resources to address the self-identified need for resident education, and was universally well received. Based on resident feedback, future sessions will include more content and faculty, and will be delivered during protected education time.