Students as teachers

To the Editor: The articles by Hu and colleagues1 and Silbert and colleagues2 highlight the imperatives for medical educators. The future requires the ability to teach as a distinct set of skills that need to be identified early and then encouraged throughout one’s career. Silbert et al advocate a comprehensive, vertically integrated student teaching program using peer-assisted learning (PAL).2 The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) strongly supports this approach to teaching theoretical information as well as clinical examination and procedural skills.

Despite curriculum frameworks such as CanMEDS3 clearly outlining the expectations for the competence of “scholar”, the work required to develop an ongoing cohort of willing and skilled surgical educators remains substantial. Development of a comprehensive array of educational programs is the current focus of the RACS Academy of Surgical Educators.4 The Academy provides curriculum delivery with oversight, as well as the exchange of educational ideas through a combination of workshops, face-to-face activities and digital delivery.

However, as Silbert et al highlight, the skills for being an educator need to be developed early. There is increasing focus on the early postgraduate years and the Australian Curriculum Framework for Junior Doctors provides clear expectations for self-directed learning, teaching, supervision and career development. However, like many other key skills, the time to start this development is in undergraduate medical courses. It is here that programs such as those highlighted by Silbert et al or courses like Teaching on the Run are critical.

Along with other medical colleges, RACS is now becoming more specific about the requirements for potential trainees. With the substantial increase in medical schools (now 18) and graduates (expected to be 3832 per year by 2017),5 variability in graduate attributes and skills is increasing. RACS is responding by having more clearly specified expectations of the experiences that potential surgical trainees should have. Being a competent teacher is one of them. Formal programs in education and documented teaching experience are both important if we are going to be able to answer the concerns raised about medical educators and their career paths.1

The more skilled our potential trainees are in teaching, as well as in understanding (their) learning, the better Australian postgraduate training will be. This will help achieve a connection to better workplaces and improved patient care.