Medical Education

The goal of the Medical Education Scholarly Concentration is to help residents and fellows develop essential skills for being a successful, innovative medical educator (curriculum design, evaluation of learner performance, program evaluation, educational leadership, and educational scholarship), and explore if this career path fits their scholarly interests.

Teaching and Feedback

The Residency Program is committed to preparing residents to excel in their roles as teachers during residency training and beyond. We appreciate and recognize the unique teaching role residents have and seek to build residents’ skills and knowledge in this area. Our innovative Residents as Teachers (RAT) program begins during intern year and continues throughout the three years of training in the form of a monthly noon conference and our Teaching Senior rotation (4 wks) in the PGY-3 year. 

For many residents, teaching provides a daily source of energy, challenge and inspiration. Housestaff work closely with Stanford medical students at all of the major training sites and are arguably the most influential teachers that students encounter.

Through our program, we seek to foster a passion and enthusiasm for this teaching. Many LPCH graduates go on to fellowship and academic careers where teaching is a vital part of their work. Residents with a special interest in teaching are encouraged to participate in the Medical Education Scholarly Concentration.

Teaching Senior Rotation

The ACGME requires that residents demonstrate an ability to “facilitate the learning of students and other health care professionals” as part of competency in Practice Based Learning and Improvement.

The required Teaching Senior rotation for PGY-3 residents is a highlight of our program. This 4-week rotation provides faculty mentoring and dedicated time for residents to gain experience with a variety of approaches to teaching.

  • Core curriculum topics include:
    • Preparation and planning for teaching
    • Learning Styles
    • Teaching in large groups
    • Teaching in small groups
    • Bedside teaching
    • Teaching in the context of clinical care
    • One-on-one teaching based on direct observation
    • Feedback and Evaluation
    • Curriculum design and evaluation
    • Reflection and self-assessment

Examples of rotation activities include weekly morning report presentations with feedback from senior faculty, physical findings rounds, small-group didactic sessions with students, and one-on-one coaching with students in clinic.  Residents appreciate having time to focus their attention on teaching; many are surprised by the challenge and excitement of the rotation.

For more information on the Teaching Senior rotation, see the Rotation Guide and other materials.

Curriculum Development/Educational Scholarship

Residents with a special interest in teaching and scholarship are encouraged to join the Medical Education Scholarly Concentration. In this concentration, residents gain foundational skills in curriculum design and program evaluation during a 2-week Curriculum Development Block Rotation (PGY-2). Residents also gain practical experience designing, implementing and presenting their own scholarly project in medical education, and are supported in their learning through individualized mentorship, didactics, small group sessions, and "works-in-progress" feedback sessions with their peers and Scholarly Concentration leaders.

Educational Leadership/Scholarship

All residents in the Medical Education Scholarly Concentration participate in the 2-week Educational Leadership rotation during their PGY-2 year. This block is a distinguishing feature of our program and is considered by many residents as one of the most influential and meaningful aspects of their training experience at Stanford. During this rotation, residents are introduced to luminaries at the School of Medicine and are exposed to the myriad of career and leadership opportunities in academic medicine. Residents also gain practical experience building an Educator Portfolio and build skill sin leadership through reflection on their leadership styles and approach towards conflict management, as well as instruction on how to lead change and be a good mentor.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Becky Blankenburg, MD, MPH

Becky Blankenburg, MD, MPH is the Residency Program Director and Associate Chair for Education (Residency Programs). She is a Clinical Associate Professor and national leader in Pediatric Hospital Medicine, and her educational interests include how to improve learning opportunities in this new era of decreased work hours and increasing patient safety, how to promote autonomy, clinical reasoning, teaching learners to teach, and helping learners improve through longitudinal coaching.  More  Dr. Blankenburg led the National Nighttime Curriculum Study (involving 89 residency programs and over 2000 learners), which showed that nighttime education can improve knowledge, confidence, and attitudes.  She was a site PI the national IPASS Study (handoffs educational intervention), and is part of the “Bringing IPASS to the Bedside” second IPASS study.

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Carrie Rassbach, MD

Carrie Rassbach, MD (Associate Program Director for Advising, Coaching, and Assessment) is a Clinical Associate Professor in Pediatric Hospital Medicine, and her educational interests include coaching, learner assessment and professional formation. She leads our Coaching Program, assessment efforts, and is an Advising APD for the class of 2018 and the Physician Scientist Track.   More Dr. Rassbach completed the Rathmann Fellowship for Medical Education, and was recently awarded the Association of Pediatric Program Directors Special Projects Grant. 

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Alyssa Bogetz, MSW

Alyssa Bogetz, MSW is Associate Program Director of Scholarship and Director of the Scholarly Concentrations Program for the Pediatrics Residency program. She has over a decade of experience in medical education research and curriculum development, and teaches faculty and trainees about the fundamentals of curriculum design and program evaluation, study design and research methods.  More  She is an experienced qualitative researcher and was the recipient of a Stanford Teaching and Mentoring Academy grant to develop a qualitative analysis course for health care professionals. She also teaches a scientific writing course for pediatric residents, fellows and junior faculty. Many of her educational interests are inspired by her practice as a clinical social worker and include topics such as professional identity development, wellness, interpersonal communication, and complex clinical decision-making.

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