Faculty development for hospitalists: structured peer observation of teaching.

Background: Hospitalists provide much of the clinical teaching in internal medicine, yet formative feedback to improve their teaching is rare.

Methods: We developed a peer observation, assessment, and feedback program to improve attending hospitalist teaching. Participants were trained to identify 10 optimal teaching behaviors using a structured observation tool that was developed from the validated Stanford Faculty Development Program clinical teaching framework. Participants joined year-long feedback dyads and engaged in peer observation and feedback on teaching. Pre- and post-program surveys assessed confidence in teaching, performance of teaching behaviors, confidence in giving and receiving feedback, attitudes toward peer observation, and overall satisfaction with the program.

Results: Twenty-two attending hospitalists participated, averaging 2.2 years (± 2.1 years standard deviation [SD]) experience; 15 (68%) completed pre- and post-program surveys. Confidence in giving feedback, receiving feedback, and teaching efficacy increased (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree, mean ± SD): "I can accurately assess my colleagues' teaching skills," (pre = 3.2 ± 0.9 vs post = 4.1 ± 0.6, P < 0.01), "I can give accurate feedback to my colleagues" (pre = 3.4 ± 0.6 vs post = 4.2 ± 0.6, P < 0.01), and "I am confident in my ability to teach students and residents" (pre = 3.2 ± 0.9 vs post = 3.7 ± 0.8, P = 0.026).

Conclusions: Peer observation and feedback of teaching increases hospitalist confidence in several domains that are essential for optimizing teaching. Further studies are needed to examine if educational outcomes are improved by this program.