Teaching Skills Under the Spotlight: A New Way to Train Pediatric Critical Care Teachers

Teaching is a big part of being a pediatric critical care specialist. But who checks if these specialists are good at teaching? Not many. So, a group of medical education experts came up with a clever idea. They wanted to create a program that uses simulations to test and improve teaching skills in pediatric critical care. This is not just about knowing the facts. It is about how to share that knowledge with others. The team started by gathering a group of 128 people. These included trainees, nurses, and therapists from the field of pediatric critical care. The experts then designed three different scenarios. These scenarios were meant to test various teaching skills. Before using them, the team made sure to test the scenarios themselves. They also trained the people who would be rating the performances. The scenarios were designed to capture what makes a good teacher. The raters, who were both faculty members and trainees, found the assessment tools easy to use. The team then looked at how consistent the scores were. They found that the internal consistency was high, which is a good sign. However, the agreement among raters was only moderate for one of the three scenarios. This shows that there is room for improvement in how raters evaluate performances. The team also looked at how teaching scores related to communication skills. They found a moderate correlation for two of the three scenarios. This suggests that good teaching skills might go hand in hand with good communication skills. The team also gathered evidence on the consequences of the assessment. They found that trainees reported significant learning gains after going through the training. This is a strong indication that the program is effective. The team developed a three-station simulation program. This program is meant to assess and improve teaching skills in pediatric critical care. The evidence they collected shows that it is a useful tool for training and feedback. However, there is still work to be done to make the assessments more consistent. The program is a step in the right direction, but it is not perfect. It is important to keep refining and improving it. After all, the goal is to create the best teachers possible. And that means always looking for ways to get better.