Andrea E. Waddell

Teaching to Teach in Toronto

ObjectiveThe training objectives for postgraduate education in the United States and Canada both state that teaching skills should be formally developed during training. This article reviews the development of the Teaching-to-Teach program at the University of Toronto Department of Psychiatry, the current curriculum, evaluation, and future directions of the program. The authors highlight some of the challenges encountered and discuss ideas for implementation of similar programs in diverse training settings.MethodsA Teaching-to-Teach curriculum was developed with separate tracks for junior and senior residents. Topics covered include one-to-one teaching, the one-minute clinical preceptor model, challenging teaching scenarios, and providing effective feedback.ResultsIn 2007, 100% of residents who responded to an evaluation questionnaire agreed or strongly agreed that the topics covered were relevant, and in 2008, 92% of respondents agreed that topics were relevant. In 2007, all respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they felt more prepared to teach. In 2008, 85% of respondents felt more prepared to teach. In 2007, all respondents felt that the amount of teaching was good or too little, but in 2008, 46% of respondents felt there was too much teaching.ConclusionThe large size of the University of Toronto psychiatry program may make this curriculum difficult to generalize to smaller training sites. The use of online modules, collaboration between programs, or individual teaching electives may be other ways of implementing a teaching to teach program. Overall, our curriculum was well-received by trainees and they felt better prepared to take on the role of teacher after participating.

The Research Innovation and Scholarship in Education Program: An Innovative Way to Nurture Education

ObjectiveEducation is becoming a recognized career path in psychiatry. Yet, there are few published accounts of how to create sustainable structures within departments to support this academic focus. The authors document the creation and 5-year progress of the Research Innovation and Scholarship in Education (RISE) program at the largest psychiatry department in Canada.MethodsThe authors analyzed the RISE archive of early proposals for enhancing scholarship in the department, the 5-year plan, annual reports, and curricular vitae of members and also gathered testimonials from inaugural residents and fellows of the program. Materials were analyzed using Boyer’s framework of scholarship.ResultsOrganizationally, RISE has embodied all four tenets of Boyer’s model of scholarship. The program has allowed education research, teaching, and creative professional development to flourish in the department, and there are considerably fewer barriers to pursuing an education career path. However, as the program expands, more work needs to be done to increase funding and protected time so that even more residents, fellows, and faculty can engage in educational scholarship.ConclusionEnhancing medical education scholarship through a model that actively integrates research with teaching, creative professional development, and mentorship can help the trajectories of faculty and students wishing to make education a priority in their careers.

Using real-time Delphi to develop a consensus on competencies

cross-section of programmes, and developing an oversight committee of cross-disciplinary residents and faculty members to ensure the content remains germane to all incoming residents. Collaborative teamworking by residents and faculty members is the lifeblood of the programme. However, our resident and faculty development teams varied in their work styles. We observed that the teams in which all participants contributed equally produced the most fluid and seamless presentations. Planning styles tended to translate into teaching styles; the most collaborative planning groups admirably modelled interdisciplinary professionalism and teamwork during their sessions. Our challenge will be to maintain effective collaborative strategies with an ever-changing group of resident teachers.