Residents and Fellows as Educators Elective

Academy of Medical Educators

This fantastic and extremely popular elective provides residents and fellows with a solid foundation for their careers as medical educators. The elective runs twice per year (April and December). The majority of workshops are in-person on Anschutz Campus.

Please reach out to SOM.Academy@cuanschutz.edu with any questions you might have.  

Director of Elective: Nicolle Fernández Dyess, MD, MEd

Schedule
This elective runs for three weeks of the month. The remaining week in the month can be used as vacation or for clinical work as determined by each GME program. The dates will always be finalized by April for the following academic year.

Dates for the following year:

• December 2-20, 2024
• April 7-25, 2025
  

Enrollment
On May 1st at 8am of each year, the application for the December and April sessions in the upcoming academic year will be open to all GME Program Directors and Coordinators. We accept fully completed applications on a first-come, first-served basis. Slots are taken up quickly, so please do not delay in submitting an application. In the event that a GME program would like to acquire a spot but does not have the exact participant identified on May 1st, the application may be completed with the participant’s name listed as “TBD.” Each GME program is allotted a maximum of 2 participants per session.

Please reach out to SOM.Academy@cuanschutz.edu with any questions you might have. 

Residents and Fellows as Educators Elective Overview
This elective will provide residents and fellows with the knowledge, attitudes and teaching skills necessary for an academic teaching physician.  The course has four components.  The first component is a series of workshops and lectures that introduce fundamentals of medical education. The second component is a project for trainees to develop and apply their teaching skills to an area of their choice (curriculum development, procedural teaching, etc.). The third component is a teaching practicum typically involving the medical student Basecamp course and practicing skills of small group facilitation. The fourth component is an Observed Structured Teaching Encounter (OSTE), where course participants will practice these skills with standardized learners. The goals of the elective are…

• To develop specific, high-yield teaching skills
• To actively engage residents and fellows in medical education
• To promote campus-wide excellence in medical education

I.  Workshops/Lectures: 
The workshops will be led by faculty who have experience in each topic.  The workshops are designed to be interactive and allow for practicing new skills.  Examples include:

• How Learning Styles Impact the Way You Teach and Learn
  
• Teaching at the Bedside
  
• Teaching Procedural Skills
  
• Working with Learners Experiencing Difficulty
  
• Giving Effective Chalk Talks
  
• Teaching to a Large Group
  
• Giving Effective Feedback
  
• Your Future Career as a Medical Educator
  
• Mentorship
  
• Curricular Development
  
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Medical Educators

II.  Teaching Practicum: 
There are multiple opportunities for teaching practicum in the clinic and classroom setting.  Teaching practicum opportunities include, but are not limited to:

• Teaching medical students communication and physical exam skills
  
• Leading 3rd and 4th year medical student small groups
  
• Bedside rounding
  
• Giving morning report or a specialty specific conference

III.  Project: 
Residents and fellows will design and implement a medical education project specific to their residency or fellowship program.  Trainees will identify a project prior to the start of the elective. The project will allow trainees to implement their skills in an area of interest.  Possible projects include:

• Designing and giving a conference or workshop on teaching skills for a specific specialty (i.e. teaching procedural skills, giving and receiving feedback, etc.)
• Developing a workshop for medical student interest groups (i.e., reading ECGs, airway management, central lines, neurologic exam, etc.)

IV. OSTE 
Near the end of the rotation, an Observed Structured Teaching Encounter (OSTE) is offered, in which real life medical students portray standardized learners. The three station OSTE allows elective participants to practice various educational skills in a highly realistic, simulated, educational encounter. The purpose is not evaluative, but developmental: there is no grade for the OSTE, although there is feedback and reflection.