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Department of Anesthesia, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, gaiserr{at}uphs.upenn.edu
To the Editor:
In July 2001, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education established the Outcomes Project, which consists of six core competencies that must be assessed and evaluated (Patient Care, Medical Knowledge, Practice-Based Learning, Interpersonal and Communication Skills, Professionalism, and Systems-Based Practice) (1). To fulfill the Outcomes Project, we established small group teaching. Small group teaching has its basis in problem-based learning. Residents were divided into one of eight groups. Each group was led by two faculty members. Attendance was mandatory and homework was required. The small groups met six times during the academic year.
Three sessions were entirely resident-led and consisted of a keyword, case discussion, and journal article review. The other sessions dealt with truth telling, substance abuse, and care of the trauma patient. In the latter session, a trauma surgeon assisted with the discussion. The written homework assignments dealt with searching the literature, reviewing the anesthesia consent form, and patient confidentiality. Faculty and residents were surveyed to assess small group teaching.
According to our residents, all core competencies were taught. The residents were able to identify the competencies and that each session encompassed at least one competency. Systems-based practice was taught in the trauma session with the surgeon explaining the decision analysis for treatment of the trauma patient. The faculty felt reasonably comfortable evaluating the residents in all competencies except patient care. The inability to evaluate in this area is easily corrected with intraoperative evaluations. The addition of homework also provided faculty with additional information. Small group teaching is one means to teach and evaluate the core competencies.
Reference
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