from SGIM Forum Volume 36/No. 1 - January 2013
TEACH (Teaching Educators Across the Continuum of Healthcare) is SGIM’s new master teacher certificate program developed to address the needs of junior clinician-educators. Developed by the SGIM Education Committee, the program focuses on teaching skills and offers quality instruction and assessment with tangible outcomes to junior faculty. The TEACH certificate is affordable, accessible, and can be completed in one year.
Applications for the inaugural class exceeded all planning expectations. Forty-four applications were received from 30 states representing all SGIM regions. Of these, 25 participants will be selected and will join an instructional team of eight core faculty plus additional faculty for selected courses. “Working with a remarkable group of innovative thinkers and educators (will give me the) opportunity to impact the teachers of the future while continuing to hone my own skills,” says TEACH faculty member Michael Rosenblum, MD. TEACH is a fundamental way “to build core skills, develop lasting relationships, and collaborate with a group of motivated educators.”
The inaugural class will begin their course of study at the 36th Annual Meeting in Denver, April 24-27, 2013. In their first year, participants attend a six-hour precourse that will cover topics such as establishing an effective learning climate, writing goals and objectives for teaching, and feedback and assessment. Additionally, participants will attend a minimum of three annual meeting workshops spanning two years. The workshop options include:
- Teaching in small groups,
- Didactic teaching,
- Teaching in the ambulatory setting,
- Teaching with the patient present,
- Identification and remediation of the struggling learner, and
- Teaching as scholarship.
An innovative element of this program is the online collaboration with peers and interaction with faculty that occurs throughout the year. “I'm excited to be a part of something that I think will be helpful to the GIM community,” says Eva Aagaard, MD, chair of the SGIM Education Committee and TEACH faculty member. “TEACH will provide clinician-educators with some important core skills that will help them grow as teachers and feel happier, more effective, and more fulfilled in their work. It's innovative in its design—we are really trying to develop something that is both useful and efficient for people. Also, the cross collaboration of faculty from all over the country—all of whom use these teaching skills on a daily basis—really makes for a unique learning environment not just for the participants but for us as teachers. I learn something new from the TEACH faculty every time we meet.”
TEACH alumni are encouraged to continue these peer-to-peer interactions even after the certificate is conferred. Participants attend a welcome reception in Year One and a certificate reception with capstone presentations in Year Two, allowing additional opportunities to network with medical educators and demonstrate the skills acquired through the program.
The application period for the 2013 class is now closed. Applications for the 2014 TEACH class will be accepted next fall. For more information, visit
www.sgim.org/go/TEACH or contact
Julie Machulsky.