Psychiatry Teacher’s Guide: A Web-Based Resource for Faculty Development

Abstract

Developing effective faculty development resources for community-based preceptors is often limited by cost, adoption, and administrative pitfalls. With the community-based preceptor model being adopted by medical schools nationally, effective faculty development initiatives must be efficient and worthy of preceptors’ time. Studies have shown that preceptors value convenience, flexibility, and timely content. Avenues utilized by medical school administrations in distributing faculty development include podcasts, online modules/quizzes, instructional videos, and online discussion boards.

Given the size of Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSoM) and its training sites across the state, flexibility, cohesion, and efficiency are especially prioritized for faculty development. With these characteristics in mind, the IUSoM psychiatry clerkship team developed the Psychiatry Teacher’s Guide in a PDF book format and interactive Canvas webpage. The Psychiatry Teacher’s Guide aims to improve three main areas: increase active learning in the clinical setting, increase NBME engagement and preparation for shelf exams, and ensure quality summative and formative evaluation of clerkship students.

The Psychiatry Teacher’s Guide was distributed via email to all preceptors who oversee third-year medical students during their psychiatry clerkship rotation, including faculty, residents, and fellows. The Psychiatry Teacher’s Guide content was synthesized into four chapters: clerkship updates, teaching pearls, final clinical evaluations, and mentoring/letters of recommendation. Following the distribution of the Psychiatry Teacher’s Guide, a post survey was sent to preceptors. The survey consisted of multiple choice (including Likert-scale questions) and open-ended questions. Participation in the survey was anonymous and voluntary. Results from the survey were analyzed as part of our quality improvement efforts and in the analysis of the Guide’s usefulness. This study was approved by the institution’s IRB under exempt status.

The Teacher’s Guide was distributed to 270 psychiatry preceptors at IUSoM in September 2023, and the survey link was distributed to those actively serving as preceptors (n=255) in October 2023. Results (n=28) are promising and show that 90% of respondents are “Somewhat Likely” or “Extremely Likely” to implement concepts learned in the Teacher’s Guide into their teaching practices. Additionally, 75% of respondents “Somewhat Agree” or “Strongly Agree” that the Teacher’s Guide has helped them identify gaps in their teachings and methods they can use to improve.

We aim to discuss the design, development, implementation, and distribution of the Psychiatry Teacher’s Guide in the psychiatry clerkship at IUSoM. We will share results from our survey and data collected by Canvas to highlight the most valued resources shared in our form of faculty development. We will also discuss the next steps in the improvement of the Psychiatry Teacher’s Guide and the ways in which it can be a sustainable piece of faculty development and valuable reference tool for preceptors.