Purpose: We sought to create a resident educator program using a Train-the-Trainer (TTT) approach with adaptable curricula at a large tertiary health care center with a medical school and 60 accredited residency programs.
Methods: The Resident Educator And Life-long Learner (REALL) Program was designed as a 3-phase model. Phase 1 included centralized planning and development that led to the design of 7 teaching modules and evaluation tools for TTT and resident sessions. Phase 2 entailed the dissemination of the TTT modules (Learning Styles, Observational Skills, Giving Feedback, Communication Skills: The Angry Patient, Case-Based Teaching, Clinical Reasoning, Effective Presentations) to faculty trainers. In phase 3, specific modules were chosen and customized by the faculty trainers, and implemented for their residents. Evaluations from residents and faculty were collected throughout this process.
Results: A total of 45 faculty trainers representing 27 residency programs participated in the TTT program, and 97% of trainers were confident in their ability to implement sessions for their residents. A total of 20 trainers from 11 residency programs implemented 33 modules to train 479 residents, and 97% of residents believed they would be able to apply the skills learned. Residents' comments revealed appreciation of discussion of their roles as teachers.
Conclusion: Use of an internal TTT program can be a strategy for dissemination of resident educator and life-long learner curricula in a large academic tertiary care center. The TTT model may be useful to other large academic centers.