SGIM Regional Teaching Competition: Equalizing the Playing Field for Trainees and Junior Faculty to Shine

“See one, do one, teach one” is a mantra that is often echoed in medical education. Yet increasingly, we are recognizing that clinical practice alone does not prepare a person to excel as an educator. Teaching is in its own way is a sport. A clinician educator must be adept at foundational teaching skills, stay up to date on the newest moves, and need to respond to learners with nuance to remain competitive. It’s a sport where passion, dedication, and mentorship equalize the playing field regardless of the size of the institution, medical specialty, or the teacher’s background for success. A great clinician educator shines due to their ability to change how a learner thinks and sees the world around them.

There is an evidence base and literature that support teaching strategies and each of these take deliberate iterative practice to use effectively. Utilizing adult learning theory, the K-12 educational science and medical education literature we know best plays when it comes to teaching the next generation of physicians, including active learning strategies, case-based teaching, and interactive online technology. These strategies require preparation by the teacher and are best implemented in a safe space that promotes effective learning.

Active learning engages the learner in the process and can help the teacher identify gaps in knowledge. Strategies, such as “think-pair-share” and open-ended questions, can help to gauge where the learners are in their knowledge and where they need to progress. Additionally, engaging the learners prior to instruction allows the learner to build upon their old knowledge as they practice what they already know.^1,2,3

Anchoring teaching in case-based examples allows the learner to see application of the knowledge to their clinical work. When in the clinical environment, utilizing the learner’s patient cases can create opportunities for “just-in-time” teaching to assist them in the care of the specific patient and allow the teacher an opportunity to teach a broader clinical rule. Models, such as the one-minute preceptor and SNAPPS (Summarize, Narrow, Analyze, Probe, Plan, Select), are well studied teaching strategies for busy clinical environments.^2,4

Clinician educators remain undervalued by the academic system despite the increased recognition of the knowledge, skills, time, dedication, and practice needed to be an effective teacher. Publications, grant acquisition, and clinical RVU dollars are often how physician success is judged. To retain the best educators, academic medicine must work to recognize their skills and promote their success. This year, the SGIM Education Committee worked in collaboration with the Board of Regional Leaders to create a new series of Bite-Size Teaching competitions at each of the regional meetings in order recognize superior junior faculty and trainees.²

The idea of the teaching competition originated from the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting at the University of Pittsburgh. The goal of these sessions is to allow students, trainees, and junior faculty within three years of graduation to show off their best teaching schemas to an audience of judges and fans. Each teaching session is allocated 5-7 minutes and can use any medium that inspires the educator. The contenders were chosen from a call for submissions sent out in each region. Applicants were asked to submit a teaching topic, their innovative teaching strategies, and to describe the impact this would have on SGIM member’s learning.

There was significant enthusiasm in each of the regions ranging from 15-30 submissions, with five finalists asked to present live during the regional meetings. Judges were provided with standardized score sheets to assess the teachers on their innovation, audience engagement, and teaching strategies implemented. Some institutions had cheering squads for their trainees, while others had institutional coaches and mentors. All attendees brought a high level of energy to support these young clinician educators as they skillfully taught their hearts out. The winners were offered mentorship from the SGIM Education Committee and the opportunity to showcase their teaching sessions virtually to SGIM members.

Events like the SGIM Bite-Size Teaching competition provide SGIM members an opportunity to obtain recognition of excellence as a clinical teacher. This year, we hope that our SGIM members will encourage trainees and junior faculty to submit a proposal for this new annual regional event. The SGIM Education Committee hopes these competitions will provide a space for mentorship and push SGIM members to innovate while showing how much they value teaching as a part of their careers.

Click on this hyperlink and watch the Bite-Size Teaching competition!⁵