Pediatric Resident-as-Teacher Curricula: A National Survey of Existing Programs and Future Needs.

Background: We conducted a national survey of US pediatric program directors to explore the current status, content, and teaching methods of Resident-as-Teacher (RAT) curricula. The purposes of the survey were to (1) determine the level and method of evaluation of such curricula, and (2) assess the need for a national curricular resource in this area.

Methods: A survey was sent to US pediatric program directors that asked questions regarding demographics, support, design, development, content, and evaluation of RAT curricula, as well as existing needs and desires for RAT curricular resources.

Resident as teacher: educating the educators.

Background: Medical students receive their clinical training from various sources: from residents during informal teaching sessions and from attending physicians during more formalized rounds. As a result of the increasing pressures of clinical medicine, efforts need to be focused on the identification and training of the next generation of clinical educators.

Description: We have created a pilot medical education elective for residents which pairs training in teaching skills with formal teaching opportunities during protected blocks of elective time, an opportunity which is rare in most residency programs and may provide for more effective teaching skill acquisition.

360 degrees: planning a new pediatric clerkship.

Objective: Mount Sinai School of Medicine is midway through a major curriculum revision. The immediate goal for the core third-year clerkships was to create a modular schedule with varied and integrated clinical experiences. Some clerkships were lengthened; others, blended.