University of Louisville
Louisville, KY
Type of Program: Pediatric Pulmonology
Abstract Authors: Scott Bickel, MD; Nemr Eid, MD; Adrian O’Hagan, MD; and Ronald Morton MD
BACKGROUND
Goals of the ACGME milestones for fellowship training include improving the mastery of a core knowledge base and participating in the education of health professionals, including residents and medical students. One method to accomplish both goals is by having the fellow teach core material to residents and medical students. At our institution, the pediatric pulmonary fellow developed a curriculum utilizing the core content outline for residents taking the general pediatrics certifying exam, with the goal of providing a general overview of pediatric pulmonary topics essential for a resident in training.
METHODS
Residents and medical students assigned to wards teams taking care of primary pulmonary patients were expected to attend weekly pulmonology teaching rounds. Other wards were encouraged to attend if it did not interfere with other duties. A 12-week rotation of topics considered essential knowledge for a general pediatric resident was developed by the pediatric fellow (Table 1), with general guidance and direction provided by the fellowship director and other pulmonary faculty. Each session was taught by the fellow with a pulmonology attending present. Each session generally included a case description and a didactic description of the topic with active participation by the residents and students. If a resident was rotating on the pediatric pulmonary service for the month, he or she was given the opportunity to develop and present the case description. At the end of the first year of the program, a survey was distributed to all residents to assess their participation in pulmonary rounds and the degree to which they felt it was beneficial to their clinical knowledge.
RESULTS
Thirty-six pediatric residents who had participated in teaching rounds responded. Fifty-seven percent of respondents stated they attended 75 percent or more of the sessions offered while they were on wards while 81 percent attended at least half. All respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the rounds were “a good use of my time” and “provided me with clinically useful information.” Seventy-four percent reported better insight into the role of pediatric pulmonologists as a result of the sessions. Qualitative feedback provided by respondents underscored the resident’s positive feelings towards the interactive, relaxed, case-based format of the program.
CONCLUSION
A program developed and led by our pediatric pulmonary fellow to enhance residents learning of general pediatric pulmonary topics provided a valuable addition to our GME-approved residency program and helped our fellow progress in multiple ACGME milestones.
