Table 2 Recommendations for educators
Recommendation | Rationale | Practical Suggestions for Implementation |
|---|---|---|
Highlight patients as the focal point of learning | Patients help to facilitate deeper knowledge by stimulating curiosity, serving as motivators to learn, and generating emotions | •Use the learner’s own patient experiences to guide learning and coaching sessions • Normalize the emotional experiences of training through collaborative storytelling events [18, 19] •Teach cognitive reappraisal[20] to harness the power of emotions in learning |
Build a Professional ‘Learner’ Identity | Internalization of a ‘learner’ identity primes trainees to view learning as intimately bound to their role as physicians | •Introduce, and normalize, concepts like growth mindset, productive struggle, and productive failure [21, 22] •Build a learning culture: Encourage bi-directional learning with both residents and faculty being inquisitive and receptive to questions about clinical decision-making •Use “what if…” questions to build hypothetical variability to clinical encounters to model adaptability as a normal part of physician experience [23] |
Teach Learning Skills | Trainees do not have adequate preparation to learn in the unstructured environment of residency training | Learning Skills •Teach evidence-based learning skills [24] (e.g., interleaving, spaced repetition) and previously identified MAL skills [6] (e.g. weighted curation, triage, and adequacy) •Emphasize conceptual knowledge by focusing learners on the ‘why’ over the ‘what’ •Encourage organizational practices (e.g., apps) to help track knowledge gaps, illness scripts, and mental schemata Transitions •Communicate the struggles and skills of transitions with learners during orientation •Cultivate learner self-reflection/self-awareness, organization, and social connections [25] •Teach adaptable goal setting (i.e. prospective for predictable LEs, and opportunistic for unpredictable LEs.) Teaching •Build a culture of teaching (e.g. maximize teaching opportunities, celebrate excellent resident/faculty teachers) •Develop evidence-based teaching skills |
Create opportunities for collaborative learning | The learning environment contains a deep reservoir of vertical and horizontal social learning opportunities | •Prompt learners to identify trusted sources during formal evaluation or coaching sessions •Provide trainees with encouragement, time, and space to generate peer learning collaborations •Maximize learner autonomy commensurate with ability [26] |