Academy of Resident Educators: A Framework for Development of Future Clinician-Educators.

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) recognize the potential impact residents may have on medical students who are on clinical clerkship rotations. An increasing number of residency applicants identify teaching as a career goal. Although academies of educational excellence have been developed for the faculty level, none currently exist at the resident/fellow level. The benefits of such academies include mentorship, collaboration among educators, recognition for teaching, and personal career development. To extend these benefits to residents, the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine created the first Academy of Resident Educators (ARE) in 2013, using an educational scholarship framework. By extending the ACGME curriculum for residents as teachers, the program has established means to develop educational expertise in future clinician-educators and scholars.The aim of the ARE is to foster the growth of residents as clinician-educators by providing direct instruction of learners and opportunities for educational leadership and professional development. Concomitant goals are to (1) develop future pediatrics clinician-educators; (2) improve bedside and classroom teaching skills; (3) expose residents to scholarship within medical education; (4) promote a culture of scholarly teaching in the residency program; and (5) build collaboration among residents, students, and faculty members interested in education.An imperative to achieving the objectives was to open events and activities to all residents and to establish a means for recognizing those who exceeded the core residency teaching curriculum in quality, quantity, and breadth of teaching. To recognize these individuals, we created the title of “distinguished resident educator.” An executive resident steering committee (ERSC) collaborated with 3 faculty mentors with expertise in faculty development (the chair of the institution's Academy of Distinguished Educators, the director of faculty educator development, and the pediatrics residency program director). This group designed a recognition framework that mirrored the criterion-based, peer-review process of quality, quantity, and breadth used to judge faculty educational portfolios.To receive the distinction of “distinguished,” a resident must complete 50 hours of education-related activities distributed among Direct Teaching (50%), Educational Leadership or Enduring Educational Material Development (30%), and Personal Development or Educational Research (20%). Residents submit an educational portfolio that is peer reviewed by ERSC members to determine if it meets the criteria. The portfolio framework is shown in the figure.The ARE is funded yearly with a $3,000 grant from the Center for Research, Innovation and Scholarship in Medical Education in the Department of Pediatrics. The ARE offers 6 professional development sessions each year. The funds are used to cover the cost of dinner at these events. The Academy faculty mentors identify and collaborate with other educational leaders to secure local, regional, and national teaching and leadership opportunities for the residents as well as speakers for the professional development sessions. At least monthly, e-mails are sent out soliciting Academy volunteers. Faculty mentoring of the residents is also ensured. ARE members collaborate with the Baylor College of Medicine pediatrics interest group and local premedical societies in leading pediatric review sessions and providing opportunities for clinical mentoring, respectively. Academy members are invited to network with faculty clinician-educators locally, and scholarships are provided for residents to attend regional and national educator meetings.In 2013, 7 of the 52 graduating residents (14%) were recognized with the title “Distinguished,” and 12 of 55 (22%) were recognized in 2014. Resident participation in scholarly educational projects has increased from an average of 1 to 2 projects a year to 9 projects in 2013–2014. Informal feedback from leaders of educational activities involving Academy residents has been overwhelmingly positive. The ARE model was selected for oral presentation at the Baylor College of Medicine Educational Innovation Day in 2014 and was selected to receive the 2015 ACGME David C. Leach Award. An educational leader wrote, “The Academy of Resident Educators not only touches students' minds, but also their spirits as future educators.”