Didactics
Resident education is our top priority. We not only provide a wide array of didactic activities, but also protect residents’ time such that they are not being pulled for patient care duties while attending educational sessions. Below is a snapshot of some of the educational activities we offer:
Inpatient Morning Report
Residents on the inpatient teams get to work with 2-3 faculty members each day to do a variety of activities including dissecting an interesting case, reviewing board-style questions related to topics discussed during the block, learning ultrasound and practicing rapids/codes via simulation. A medical librarian is involved to help incorporate the latest evidence into the discussions and medical decision-making.
Academic Half-Day
Academic half-day (AHD), is a weekly 3-hour session that covers core IM topics. Residents are excused from clinical duties during this time. AHD starts with lectures/cases from subspecialty faculty, and follows with a rotating base of activities such as journal club, EKG reading, small group interleaving cases, great debates, resident research presentations, quality improvement instruction, board review, simulation, wellness check-ins, and a dedicated diversity, equity and inclusion curriculum.
Morbidity, Mortality, and Improvement (M, M, and I) conference
In an effort to continuously improve, we dissect cases as a group where a poor outcome occurred. We do this in a judgement-free way that allows identification of knowledge gaps or systems issues that led to suboptimal care. Often issues are identified that drive resident QI projects to help improve future care.
Journal Club
With faculty, residents review relevant journal articles and discuss the methods and impact of the study as a group. This both exposes residents to key evidence from which to base their medical decisions and teaches how to critically appraise the literature.
The Great Debates
This is a resident-led interactive session in which two resident teams choose a controversial topic in medicine. Each group formally debates the merits of each side of the topic. The key learning objective is understanding both sides of an issue and using the available evidence to help guide shared decision-making with patients. Some examples of prior debates include:
- The merits/concerns with physician-assisted suicide
- Steroids in community-acquired pneumonia
- Surgery vs. antibiotics for acute uncomplicated appendicitis
- Albumin vs. crystalloid for fluid resuscitation
- Vaping vs. cigarette smoking in patients not ready to quit
- Testosterone supplementation in age-related hypogonadism
Ambulatory Curriculum
The ambulatory curriculum is comprised of several components including quality improvement projects, learning modules (John’s Hopkins PEAC modules), and weekly ambulatory morning report. All components are longitudinal, and residents participate throughout the year.
Integrated Board Review
All residents are given the funds to purchase MKSAP, the ACP board review curriculum. We integrate board review into our conferences, to make sure we understand the key concepts we are learning. We focus not only on the topic at hand, but also test-taking strategies. We also have a separate board review course for senior residents with longitudinal subject-specific examinations, followed by review sessions. Residents are also given funds to attend a reputable board review course leading up to their exam.
Knowledge Games
Ever walk out of a lecture thinking you were super engaged, and then try to recall something about that lecture weeks later and you can’t do it? This happens all the time – if we don’t do anything active with material presented to us, we will not retain it long term. Our program director, Dr. Sall, has a master’s degree in education and has been able to integrate adult learning theory principles into our curriculum. One example of this is the “Knowledge Games”, where residents engage in retrieval practice and spaced repetition by answering daily questions about topics they have learned throughout the year. To make it fun, at the end of each month the resident with the most points wins a prize.
Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS)
We have recently acquired the handheld Butterfly Ultrasound probes, and are building a POCUS curriculum. Residents also have access to a POCUS task-trainer that contains both normal and pathologic images to obtain.
Simulation
As part of morning report, we hold bi-monthly simulations to review rapid response and code scenarios at our simulation center here at TPK. We also conduct standardized patient simulations periodically to review communication skills. We also engage with the military partnership simulation center at our Osborn location for additional hi-fidelity simulations.
Medical Grand Rounds
The monthly Grand Round lectures bring local and national faculty to HonorHealth to provide education to a The monthly Grand Round lectures bring local and national faculty to HonorHealth to provide education to a multidisciplinary audience on topics relevant to the IM boards and patient care.
Career Guidance Curriculum
We offer a longitudinal recurring lecture and activity series to assist our residents in their job searches or to help prepare them for fellowship application. Examples include lectures on how to search for a job, how to review a contract, financial guidance; example activities include mock interviews with faculty and a “speed-dating” style career night with faculty of different specialties.
