Outpatient Teaching and Feedback Skills Workshop for Resident Physicians

Challenges Faced by Medical Trainees in Outpatient Management Education in Acute Care Hospitals: A Thematic Analysis

Introduction As societies age globally, medical education faces the challenge of adapting to the evolving healthcare needs of an aging population. This study focuses on the education of medical residents in outpatient departments in Japan, a country with a rapidly aging society. The research aims to understand the perceptions and challenges medical residents face in outpatient management, highlighting the areas for potential improvement in their educational framework. Method This study involved first-year medical residents at Fuchu Hospital in Osaka, using thematic analysis based on relativist ontology and constructivist epistemology. Data were collected through field notes and reflection sheets, documenting residents' interactions with patients, learning difficulties, and personal reflections. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain profound insights into their experiences and views on outpatient management education. Results Three main themes emerged from the analysis: The experience of continuity of care, the view regarding comprehensive management, and the gap between purposes and learning content. Residents expressed concerns about the limited opportunities for continuous patient care, leading to challenges in managing chronic diseases effectively. The focus on organ-specific specialties in acute care hospitals resulted in a fragmented understanding of patient care, particularly for elderly patients with multimorbidity. Furthermore, the study identified a discrepancy between the educational goals of outpatient management and the actual content delivered, highlighting the need for more observational experiences and practical guidance in outpatient settings. Conclusion The findings suggest a pressing need for a more structured, comprehensive, and personalized approach to outpatient management education for medical residents. As aging populations continue to grow, it is vital to equip medical professionals with the skills and knowledge to manage a wide range of patient conditions effectively. Improving the educational framework in outpatient departments can enhance patient care quality and prepare medical residents to meet the challenges of an aging society. This study contributes valuable insights into improving medical education in outpatient settings, particularly in aging societies like Japan.

Preparing Interns as Teachers: Teaching Fourth-Year Medical Students the Tenets of the One-Minute Preceptor Model

Introduction

Often, interns are expected to teach medical students early in their residency, but most are not formally taught how to be effective teachers before residency. Currently, there is emphasis on developing teaching skills of residents rather than students before they become residents. Most published student-as-teacher courses are voluntary and do not assess skill acquisition.

Methods

We taught 290 fourth-year medical students across two academic years (2020-2022) the tenets of the One-Minute Preceptor (OMP) using a 2-hour workshop during their transition to residency course. A variety of role-play cases allowed students to practice the different parts of the OMP in isolation and combined. Then, we assessed their teaching skills after the workshop using an objective structured teaching exam (OSTE).

Results

Two hundred seventy-eight students (96%) completed the self-assessment of their confidence demonstrating the skills of the OMP before and after the workshop. Their confidence improved in all domains, with ps < .001. Additionally, all students successfully demonstrated competency on the OSTE.

Discussion

We used a 2-hour workshop based on the OMP to improve fourth-year medical students' confidence in their teaching skills and allow them to demonstrate competence in those skills before starting their intern year.

A Case Study of Curriculum Co-creation During a Seminar-Style Course for Senior Medical Students

Introduction

Opportunities to learn about education theory underpinning medical education are limited in both undergraduate and graduate medical education and predominantly focus on "student as teacher." Key components of education theory relevant to medical education, including learning theory, curricular design, and assessment design, are rarely included in student-as-teacher training. Opportunities for medical students to co-create curricula with faculty are scarce.

Methods

We present the case study of a month-long, seminar-style course titled, Applications and Foundations of Education in Medical Education. We describe the course, report student feedback, and identify the value of curriculum co-creation expressed in student reflections. The course was designed by a faculty member with formal medical education training; students co-created their own learning outcomes through self-selected articles and personal reflections on the topics: How do people learn; what is the best way to teach; what is a curriculum; and how should students be assessed?

Results

Forty-seven post-clinical students completed the course; 28 completed course evaluations. They strongly agreed that the class met its stated goals (4.89/5) and that faculty teaching (4.93/5) and supervision (4.93/5) were appropriate. Themes from student reflections expressed that the co-creation process was insightful about the profession itself, from the perspective of their own participation in learning how to become a member of the profession.

Discussion

This course offered a unique opportunity for medical students to learn medical education beyond the skill of teaching. The course allowed deep immersion into current literature and offered the chance to plan and execute one's own learning.

The SOAP Feedback Training Program

BACKGROUND

Accessible and efficient opportunities for health professional faculty to hone feedback skills are limited. In addition, feedback models to apply to the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) setting are lacking.

APPROACH

Annually, paediatric interns from Children's National Hospital and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center participate in an OSCE, which includes faculty observation and immediate feedback to trainees. In 2018, we incorporated the subjective, objective, assessment, plan (SOAP) Feedback Training Program during 20 min of the pre-OSCE faculty orientation. The SOAP Feedback Training Program introduced the SOAP feedback model (subjective, objective, assessment, plan), facilitated practice in pairs and distributed a cognitive aid referencing the model. We evaluated the quality of faculty feedback exchanges during the 2018 OSCE via retrospective video review using the Direct Observation of Clinical Skills Feedback Scale (DOCS-FBS). We compared the results to the 2015 initial evaluation and used focus groups to understand how and why faculty feedback changed.

EVALUATION

Comparison of the initial evaluation to the post-SOAP Feedback Training Program intervention data using a Wilcoxon signed rank test showed statistically significant improvement in six of eight feedback items on the DOCS-FBS. Causal coding of focus group transcripts revealed that the SOAP Feedback Training Program evoked affective responses, reinforced prior practice in feedback delivery, improved feedback organisation and increased feedback delivery preparation.

IMPLICATIONS

The SOAP Feedback Training Program is an effective intervention to teach the SOAP feedback model and improve faculty feedback quality in an OSCE setting. It is efficient and low resource, facilitating its potential use in settings beyond the OSCE.

Inclusion of the workshop model in the standardized training of emergency medicine residents

Background

Standardized training of resident physicians (STRP) includes clinical practice, professional required courses, and public required courses, among others. Of them, clinical practice is the most important as it allows residents to implement what they have learned in theoretical education to practice. Clinical practice includes different teaching methods, such as traditional lectures, bedside teaching, and workshops, and each method has its advantages and disadvantages in different situations of interest. Emergency medicine (EM) focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of urgent medical conditions and entails several emergency procedures. In this study, we aimed to compare the effects of workshop-based STRP and traditional STRP on emergency physicians.

Methods

Overall, 125 residents who received STRP in EM between January and December 2021 were selected and randomly divided into two groups: the control group (n = 60; received traditional teaching) and the intervention group (n = 65; received workshop-based training). The theoretical performance, operative performance, and satisfaction of both groups were compared and analyzed.

Results

Regarding theoretical assessment, the scores of airway management, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and trauma management in the intervention group were 4.81 (t = 5.82, p < 0.001), 6.90 (t = 7.72, p < 0.001), and 5.25 (t = 6.14, p < 0.001), respectively. Regarding skill assessment, the scores for the same items in the intervention group were 4.43 (t = 5.30, p < 0.001), 4.55 (t = 5.61, p < 0.001), and 5.62 (t = 6.65, P < 0.001), respectively. Regarding satisfaction evaluation, the scores in the intervention group were 1.99 (t = 6.03, p < 0.001), 1.98 (t = 6.41, p < 0.001), and 1.96 (t = 6.14, p < 0.001), respectively. Overall, the scores were higher in the intervention group than in the control group.

Conclusion

The workshop training model effectively improves the theoretical knowledge and practical skills of EM residents undergoing standardized training. The residents found the training and its outcomes satisfactory, ultimately improving their emergency response and first-responder skills.