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March 1997
Paul M. Paulman, MD Editor's Note: This month's column focuses on services
and products available for community teachers of family medicine
and how to obtain them. Column author Julea Garner, MD, is assistant
director of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Division
of Education and works primarily with undergraduate medical education
issues. Coauthor Daniel J. Van Durme, MD, is a practicing family
physician in Florida, an associate professor in the Department
of Family Medicine at the University of South Florida, and the
president of the Florida Academy of Family Physicians. I welcome
your comments (e-mail: ppaulman@mail.unmc.edu).
I also encourage all predoctoral directors to make copies of this
column and distribute it to their preceptors.
Community teachers of family medicine have several support services and products at their disposal to assist in teaching students and residents.[1,2] Nevertheless, more products and services are needed to assist and encourage physicians to serve as preceptors. The following list of products and services is not comprehensive but represents the material we are aware of that may be useful to preceptors. CME Credit Information. The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) allows 20 credit hours per year of prescribed continuing medical education (CME) credits for precepting and teaching residents and medical students.[3] The requirement for CME credits to retain active membership in the AAFP and eligibility for recertification by the American Board of Family Practice is 150 CME credit hours per 3 years, of which 75 credit hours must be prescribed.[3,4] Also note that the AAFP-prescribed CME credit is accepted by the American Medical Association (AMA) as equivalent to AMA Category 1 credit for the AMA Physicians Recognition Award.[3] Teaching Certificates. Family practice teaching certificates produced by the AAFP's Resident and Student Affairs/Special Projects Department are traditionally given by a family practice residency program as an expression of appreciation to an individual who has volunteered time and effort to teach in a family practice setting. The certificate may be awarded by the family practice residency program director, the family medicine department chair, the AAFP constituent chapter, and/or the medical school dean. To qualify, an individual must have given at least 75 hours of his or her time teaching on a volunteer basis in a setting of family medicine education during 1 year. Faculty Development Programs. There are specific faculty development programs for physicians as teachers that have been well received. Two of the most widely used programs are the Preceptor Education Project developed by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) through an AAFP subcontract and the Consultations in Career Development CME program developed by the AAFP Commission on Education. The Preceptor Education Project is consistently rated by its participants as one of the most valuable resources for the "how tos" of precepting and teaching residents and medical students. Three components are available in the program, including a workshop eligible for CME credit that consists of eight modules, a workbook that is provided at the workshop or can be obtained separately, and a workshop leader's manual. The eight modules include instruction for organization/planning skills, observation skills, teaching and feedback skills, evaluation strategies, and problem-solving approaches. The Preceptor Education Project was designed to improve preceptors' teaching skills.[5] Consultations in Career Development are courses offered at the AAFP Annual Scientific Assembly (CME credit available) for those family physicians thinking of becoming more involved in teaching and precepting. The AAFP offers six different topics in the Consultations in Career Development. Two courses will focus on the skills necessary and factors to consider before moving to a faculty or management position. Four courses will focus on teaching students in the office, role model precepting of students and residents, and developing leadership skills. Publications. Several publications are available with information about precepting residents and medical students.[6] The examples that follow are available through the STFM Bookstore (formerly the Publications List). All publications on the STFM Bookstore are peer reviewed to determine usefulness and applicability for teachers of family medicine.[6] Preceptors as Teachers: A Guide to Clinical Teaching, by Neal A. Whitman, MPA, EdD, and Thomas L. Schwenk, MD. This book provides "agendas" for preceptors to assess students' knowledge, attitudes, and skills. Medical Teaching and Ambulatory Care: A Practical Guide, by Warren Rubenstein, MD, and Yves Talbot, MD. This book presents a practical approach to ambulatory care and office teaching. It covers the teaching skills required, office setup, how to structure a teaching day, and how to handle challenging learning situations. A Practical Guide to Clinical Teaching in Medicine, by Kaaren C. Douglas, MD, MSPH; Michael C. Hosokawa, EdD; and Frank Lawler, MD, MSPH. An excellent textbook for clinical teachers entering academic medicine, this book provides specific, usable advice on topics ranging from improved communication and teaching strategies to continuing scholarship. Providing Constructive Feedback: A Center for Instructional Support Guidebook for Health Professions Teachers, by Jane Westberg, PhD, and Hilliard Jason, MD, EdD. The material represented in this guidebook is for all teachers in the health professions. The authors have used examples that relate to the teaching done by most readers. A large proportion of the examples used are clinically based and are linked to working with learners in the context of real or simulated clinical challenges. Creative Medical Teaching, by Neal Whitman, MPA, EdD. This book is meant to inspire, not instruct. Topics are discussed briefly, with just enough information to inspire thinking about individual teaching. Electronic Resources. If you have Internet access, you can find a number of resources that may improve your teaching experience. Visit family medicine and family practice Web sites like STFM's or AAFP's or search family medicine listserv archives. All are rich in material that relate to our discipline and specialty. While other resources and support services are available (free library access, teaching aids, free computer literature search, textbooks, stipends, reduced or free continuing medical education, etc), they vary greatly from place to place.[1,2,7] To find out what local resources and support services are available to you for precepting, contact the dean's office or the department of family medicine in the nearest medical school. Also contact the program director of the nearest family practice residency program. References
Contact Information
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