Clinician Educator Pathway

Overview

The Clinician-Educator Pathway at the UW Internal Medicine Residency Program offers a unique training opportunity for residents interested in exploring careers in medical education. The pathway is comprised of three main pillars: 1) participation in immersion blocks during the R2 and R3 years that provide immersive training in medical education theory, educational strategies, and evaluation; 2) longitudinal teaching experiences with medical students; and 3) participation in a scholarly project related to medical education. The pathway aims to graduate residents who are committed to incorporating medical education as a major component of their careers, whether in general internal medicine or subspecialty fields. 

Residents apply for the pathway in the winter of their R1 year and will participate in the pathway during their R2/R3 years. 

The goals of the pathway are to:

1. Improve residents' skills as educators by providing opportunities to

Teach in varied settings

Build new teaching skills through hands-on workshops and experiential learning 

• Teach in varied settings
• Build new teaching skills through hands-on workshops and experiential learning 
• Collaborate with experienced educators for mentoring and feedback 

Teach in varied settings

Build new teaching skills through hands-on workshops and experiential learning 

Collaborate with experienced educators for mentoring and feedback 

 

2. Prepare residents for careers in medical education by facilitating

Relationships with faculty mentors

Opportunities for scholarship

Development of a Teaching Portfolio

• Relationships with faculty mentors
• Opportunities for scholarship
• Development of a Teaching Portfolio

  Relationships with faculty mentors

  Opportunities for scholarship

  Development of a Teaching PortfolioRelationships with faculty mentors
  Opportunities for scholarship
  Development of a Teaching PortfolioRelationships with faculty mentors
  Opportunities for scholarship
  Development of a Teaching Portfolio

  Relationships with faculty mentors

  Opportunities for scholarship

  Development of a Teaching Portfolio

Immersion Block

Pathway residents are required to participate in an immersion block (schedule for the fall) in both the R2 and R3 years (two immersion blocks in total). During immersion blocks, residents will participate in small group teaching sessions and workshops focused on medical education theory, building an array of teaching strategies and skills, scholarship in medical education, and careers and leadership in medical education. Immersion blocks will have dedicated time for residents to engage in scholarly projects. 

Longitudinal Teaching Experience

Pathway residents participate in two immersive, longitudinal teaching experiences during their R2 and R3 years, one with pre-clinical students in the inpatient setting and the other with senior clinical students in the ambulatory environment. Residents are paired with expert Clinician-Educators who teach in the medical school; these faculty provide close observation, mentoring, and feedback of residents on their development as medical educators. Additional teaching experiences include near-peer observation and feedback for junior residents who are leading wards teams, peer teaching within the immersion block, and opportunities to proctor OSCEs in the medical school.  

Resident Scholarly Requirement

Scholarly projects on a medical education topic are required for all pathway residents and are tailored to meet an individual’s interests and needs. Past projects include the development of curriculum modules for the residency and the Clinician-educator pathway; review articles; evaluation of current curricular innovations; and formal quality improvement projects. All residents partner with a faculty mentor for their project. Residents are encouraged to submit their work as a poster or abstract to regional and national conferences, as well as to develop a manuscript for submission to a medical education journal or online portal. These activities should help residents acquire or hone research skills such as literature review, poster construction, survey design, IRB interaction, database management and statistics. Significant time is dedicated to scholarship during the R3 immersion block.  

teaching portfolio

All residents in the Clinician-Educator pathway will have the opportunity to create a teaching portfolio during the R3 year to highlight skills and achievement in the domain of medical education, particularly as residents prepare for jobs after residency. Residents will receive mentorship and feedback on their teaching portfolio.  

Current Residents