Acad Psychiatry (2014) 38:43–49 DOI 10.1007/s40596-013-0026-2
SPECIAL ELEMENT: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Medical Education Teaching Resources Michael D. Jibson & Lisa S. Seyfried & Tamara L. Gay
Received: 15 August 2012 / Accepted: 5 September 2013 / Published online: 16 January 2014 # Academic Psychiatry 2014
Abstract Objective Numerous monographs on psychiatry education have appeared without a review specifically intended to assist psychiatry faculty and trainees in the selection of appropriate volumes for study and reference. The authors prepared this annotated bibliography to fill that gap. Methods The authors identified titles from web-based searches of the topics “academic psychiatry,” “psychiatry education,” and “medical education,” followed by additional searches of the same topics on the websites of major publishers. Forty-nine titles referring to psychiatry education specifically and medical education generally were identified. The authors selected works that were published within the last 10 years and remain in print and that met at least one of the following criteria: (1) written specifically about psychiatry or for psychiatric educators; (2) of especially high quality in scholarship, writing, topic selection and coverage, and pertinence to academic psychiatry; (3) covering a learning modality deemed by the authors to be of particular interest for psychiatry education. Results The authors reviewed 19 books pertinent to the processes of medical student and residency education, faculty career development, and education administration. These included 11 books on medical education in general, 4 books that focus more narrowly on the field of psychiatry, and 4 books addressing specific learning modalities of potential utility in the mental health professions. Conclusion Most of the selected works proved to be outstanding contributions to the medical education literature. Keywords Medical education . Professional resources . Psychiatry education M. D. Jibson (*) : L. S. Seyfried : T. L. Gay University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA e-mail: [email protected]
Monographs on the topic of psychiatry education are an important adjunct to the briefer and more focused contributions of Academic Psychiatry. In the past several years, numerous works have appeared without a review specifically intended to assist psychiatry faculty and trainees in the selection of appropriate volumes for study and reference. This annotated bibliography was undertaken to fill that gap. Titles were identified from web-based searches of the topics “academic psychiatry,” “psychiatry education,” and “medical education,” followed by additional searches of the same topics on the websites of amazon.com, American Psychiatric Press, and several other major publishers, including Lippincott, McGraw-Hill, Norton, Oxford, Springer, and Wiley-Blackwell. Forty-nine titles referring to psychiatry education specifically and medical education generally were identified. From among this group, works were selected based on their meeting at least one of the following criteria: (1) the book was written specifically about psychiatry or for psychiatric educators; (2) the book was of especially high quality in terms of its scholarship, writing, topic selection and coverage, and pertinence to academic psychiatry; (3) the book covered a learning modality deemed by the authors to be of particular interest for psychiatry education. All works selected were published within the last 10 years (most within the past 5 years) and remain in print. Nineteen books met at least 1 of the criteria. These volumes fall into three levels of specificity. The first are general works on medical education that include or at least overlap with psychiatry education. The 11 books selected do not represent the entirety of the literature on medical education, which is vast, but rather included the authors' choices of the highest quality and most useful works for psychiatric educators. The second more specific level is comprised of books focused entirely on psychiatry or related mental health professions.
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Each of the four recent additions to this far smaller collection of writings was selected for review, irrespective of its quality. Happily, most of these works proved to be outstanding contributions to the medical education literature. Finally, four books on specific teaching modalities were included, chosen because of the attention they have received in professional organizations focused on psychiatry education.
General Works on Medical Education American College of Physicians Teaching Medicine Series (J. Ende, Series Editor) The ACP Teaching Medicine series was separated from the remainder of the books on general medical education to highlight the unique caliber of this work. These succinct, accessible, and highly readable books stand out in the field as the most comprehensive and successful attempt to cover a wide range of education topics in an integrated series appropriate for both new and experienced teachers. Although they were primarily written by internal medicine faculty, they are general enough to resonate across all specialties. The tone throughout is informed and authoritative, yet highly personal. Most chapters include clear graphics with bullet points and key concepts that clarify, summarize, and augment the text; some of these are extensive and wordy, but most are focused and concise. Nearly all the chapters include personal vignettes that convey both the cognitive and emotional challenges and satisfactions of teaching. For a program seeking to build a library on medical education or a young faculty member looking for a career guide, this series is an ideal place to start.
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Skeff KM: Methods for Teaching Medicine, Philadelphia, ACP Press, 2010; 141 Pages; $34.95 The editor of Methods is co-director of the Stanford Faculty Development Center for Medical Teachers and coauthored the book's first chapter, “Developing Expertise in Teaching.” As might be expected from someone who studies and teaches teaching rather than medicine, this chapter is less accessible than most; the density of the prose, numerous citations of educational research, and theoretical focus make it less appealing to the novice educator seeking concrete guidance. This is in contrast to the second chapter which gives a concise and practical overview of curriculum development. Extensive tables review common instructional methods, educational theories, and evaluation methods used in teaching. The use of real-world examples bridges the theoretical with the practical. Chapters on how to give lectures, facilitate small-group discussions, and design and conduct workshops provide helpful guidance to improve teaching techniques. The last chapter concerns continuing professional development and may be less useful to the majority of readers. Alguire PC, DeWitt DE, Pinsky LE, Ferenchick GS: Teaching in Your Office, 2nd ed., Philadelphia, ACP Press, 2008; 178 Pages; $34.95 This book is intended to help office-based physicians improve their teaching of medical students and residents while maintaining the fast pace of the ambulatory medical/surgical setting. Because of that perspective, this may be the least applicable to the practice and teaching of psychiatry of all the books in the series. Even so, there are elements that translate well, such as useful chapters on “Cased-Based Learning” and “Learner Feedback and Evaluation.” The latter topic was, however, covered from a different approach by other books in the series.
Ende, J: Theory and Practice of Teaching Medicine, Philadelphia, ACP Press, 2010; 161 Pages; $34.95
Wiese J: Teaching in the Hospital, Philadelphia, ACP Press, 2010; 325 Pages; $34.95
This first book in the ACP series offers vignettes and examples that convert learning theory (20 % of the book) into teaching practice (80 %). It provides a basic introduction especially appropriate to novice educators (regular readers of Academic Psychiatry may find some of the points a bit rudimentary), but it clarifies and organizes teaching concepts in ways that will benefit even the veteran teacher. The last quarter of the book is a special section on “Memorable Moments in Teaching and Learning,” containing numerous anecdotes and personal stories illustrating the power, joy, and humanity of teaching and learning medicine that are both moving and inspiring. The unique qualities of this book are its practicality and its personal perspective.
The first half of this book is especially useful, focusing on the unique opportunities and challenges of hospital-based teaching. Early chapters also speak to universal teaching principles such as role-modeling skills and behaviors. Chapters on how to teach clinical reasoning and nonclinical skills likewise have broad applicability, and although the examples were all taken from medicine services, they are not difficult to generalize. The chapter on feedback and evaluation, though brief, presents excellent direction for “emotionally neutral” immediate and summative feedback to trainees. The latter half of the book is comprised of “teaching scripts” for some of the more common clinical problems encountered on internal medicine services, most of which are not directly applicable to
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psychiatry, but may still serve as a template for similar scripts on a mental health unit. Humphrey HJ: Mentoring in Academic Medicine, Philadelphia, ACP Press, 2010; 265 Pages; $34.95 This especially well-written and readily digestible book covers a broad range of mentoring skills, populations, and situations. The authors held a range of academic ranks from junior faculty to deans, modeling the topic of mentorship by their coauthorship of several chapters. The first section of the book is less about professional development than development of professionalism, not exactly the same topic, though treated as such by several of the authors, limiting the scope of their discussion somewhat. These chapters include extensive discussion of professionalism itself, along with a detailed and perceptive consideration of differences in generational attitudes that challenge mentorship in this area. This is augmented by a chapter covering much of the same material from a broader, more philosophical perspective that invites the reader to question widely held assumptions about the nature of professionalism. The second section of the book includes practical suggestions for mentorship of students, residents, faculty, peers, and researchers, along with striking insights into positive and negative practices to develop or avoid. A final section on special populations includes chapters on mentorship for women, underrepresented minorities, and foreign medical graduates. These chapters are inconsistent regarding the goal of mentorship; the chapter on women deals exclusively with mentorship for academic medicine, that on minorities addresses both clinical and academic careers, and the chapter on foreign graduates focuses on their making it through residency. Although the entire book is excellent, the chapters on the fundamentals of mentoring, first from the literature and later from the author's experience, are especially insightful, illuminating, and practical. Pangaro L: Leadership Careers in Medical Education, Philadelphia, ACP Press, 2010; 265 Pages; $34.95 The title of Leadership Careers captured three separate but overlapping topics as follows: leadership, career development for faculty working in medical education, and the administration of medical education programs. Much of this volume focused on the day-to-day work of faculty, assuming leadership roles in the processes of education at the medical student and residency levels. These chapters are insightful, thorough, and highly practical, covering the essentials of operation for a medical student or residency curriculum. Beyond many other works on these topics, however, are three chapters at the beginning of the book that review the history and organization of medical education across the country and the typical organizational structure of a medical school. The historical
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information, though interesting, is less pertinent than the clear and explicit outlines of how medical education is structured, administered, and credentialed—essential information for leaders that is not always obvious to faculty newly appointed to administrative roles. The chapter on career development includes exceptionally lucid and explicit information on what it takes to get promoted in an academic institution. The broader topic of leadership is more often addressed in business schools than in academic medicine, and the tools of study tend to be anecdotal, reflective, and experiential. This volume follows that pattern with a lengthy final chapter featuring the personal reflections of individuals who have achieved success in the administrative hierarchy of medical academia. Though not critical information in the same sense as the rest of the book, the stories are compelling and inspiring, not least because many readers are likely to have encountered one or more of the writers in the course of training and early career.
Other Books on General Medical Education Roberts LW: The Academic Medicine Handbook: A Guide to Achievement and Fulfillment for Academic Faculty, New York, Springer, 2013, 486 Pages; $49.95 Please note that one of us (MDJ) contributed to two chapters of this volume. This book is similar in tone and design to Roberts and Hilty's 2006 Handbook of Career Development in Academic Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences reviewed below, but was directed to academic faculty generally, rather than to psychiatrists specifically. Thus, although the majority of the 78 contributors to this volume were drawn from psychiatry departments, the scope is broader and the authors were careful not to allow behavioral health perspectives to dominate its themes. The book consists of 56 brief chapters dealing with finely focused, practical issues that confront faculty at all stages of development. The result is a work of uncommon breadth and detail, filled with insights and pragmatic suggestions that are easy to grasp and ready to implement. The tone of the book is collegial rather than academic, with an emphasis on the experience of successful faculty, followed by just a small number of well-chosen references. The frequent use of tables, boxes, and bulleted lists facilitates quick overviews and highlights critical points. The book is particularly easy to use as a problem-solving reference, where the reader will be efficiently guided through a discussion of specific issues. It lends itself less readily to a cover-to-cover reading, for which the large number of brief, narrowly focused chapters may prove overwhelming. In this sense, it is rather like a visit with a good mentor, allowing the reader to define the day's question rather than having to sit through a course of material chosen for someone else.
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Holmboe ES, Hawkins RE: Practical Guide to the Evaluation of Clinical Competence, Philadelphia, Mosby Elsevier, 2008; 244 Pages; $57.95 Contributors to the Practical Guide were mostly from education accreditation and assessment organizations (e.g., the National Board of Medical Examiners) with expertise in education research and theory. This perspective was strongly reflected in the book, which is densely packed with empirical studies and references to theoretical concepts, at times leaning more toward the needs of education theorists than practitioners struggling to know exactly what to do to assess their trainees. For example, a chapter on written tests has a long and detailed review of published findings regarding these examinations, with little practical information on how to use them, although two small graphs convey the sobering reality of just how many questions are required to get a valid and reliable assessment of student knowledge. Even so, much of the book is excellent, particularly the sections on portfolios, the impact on clinical care of practice-based learning and improvement, and patient simulations. The editors have extensive expertise in the use of direct observation for trainee evaluation, and they include a detailed section on how to train the faculty to do these assessments reliably, a useful adjunct to psychiatry educators implementing the clinical skills assessments now required by the ABPN. Finally, the Guide includes a DVD with training videos of patient encounters at different levels of competence with specific commentary on why they were rated the way they were. Overall, the Guide should be of value to anyone with a serious interest in high-quality trainee assessment. Rider EA, Nawotniak RH, Smith G: A Practical Guide to Teaching and Assessing the ACGME Core Competencies, Marblehead, HCPro, 2007; 238 Pages; $179.00 A second Practical Guide covers much of the same material as Holmboe and Hawkins, but with more emphasis on readily usable examples for teachers and education directors. This approach is facilitated by an accessible tone without excessive jargon or theory and by extensive use of tables and charts for easy reference. The content of most chapters is comparable to that found in other sources, but a few stood out as uniquely valuable. The chapter on interpersonal and communication skills fills the first third of the book and does a commendable job of integrating the competency recommendations of several organizations with both specifics of behavior and how to evaluate them, even going so far as to recommend detailed teaching and evaluation strategies. This is followed by nearly 50 pages of sample assessment forms from other published sources, along with contact information to obtain permission to use those resources. Interestingly, the chapters on patient care and systems-based practice were written by a program
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coordinator, who made passing reference to “our profession,” speaking not of education but medical practice, a gentle reminder of the broad range of professionals who contribute to healthcare. The chapter on practice-based learning and improvement effectively demonstrates the role of evidencebased medicine in a didactic curriculum, on clinical rotations, and in medical practice, along with specific assessments for each setting. The discussion of portfolios in the assessment of this competency is particularly good. Overall, the book covers familiar ground, but includes a number of highly practical resources and detailed, ready-to-use forms in an easily digestible format. Cooke M, Irby DM, O’Brien BC, Shulman LS: Educating Physicians: A Call for Reform of Medical Schools and Residency, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 2010; 320 Pages; $45.00 Published by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, this extensive summary of medical education in the US includes its history, current state, and specific recommendations for much needed improvement and innovation. It begins with descriptions of programs and practices prior to Abraham Flexner's 1910 report on the deplorable state of North American medical education. The text quickly moves through the past century of teaching, accreditation, and licensing reforms. The authors identified four overarching goals for future undergraduate medical education (UME), graduate medical education (GME), and continuing medical education (CME) during professional practice as follows: (1) standardization and individuation, (2) integration, (3) insistence on excellence, and (4) formation of professional identity. Helpful case examples illustrate ways in which the current systems and practices succeed and fail in each of the above domains. The final chapter outlines seven detailed proposals for the advancement of US medical education and the health of the public. Recommendations for sweeping change include updated and forward thinking of medical school admission prerequisites and processes, unification of competencies across UME, GME and CME, faculty development with an emphasis on evidence-based pedagogy, increased focus on interdisciplinary patient care and teaching in ambulatory settings, and funding commitments to support educational infrastructure, innovation, and research. Stakeholders working in medical education, as well as funders, regulators, and professional organizations, will find this book to be well-researched and thought provoking. The authors made compelling arguments for revamping the present system in numerous ways. They made an especially persuasive case for seamless transitions of medical school to residency and residency to unsupervised practice. The text is tightly written and requires some prior knowledge of medical education's current configuration, funding, and regulatory structures to be easily understood. It is
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an especially interesting read given the historical timing, a century after the Flexner report provided a comparable analysis of the status quo with bold recommendations for change. Peterkin AD: Staying Human during Residency Training: How to Survive and Thrive After Medical School, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2008; 175 Pages; $25.95 The general theme of Staying Human is the importance of work/life balance and ways to enable trainees to preserve their humanity and ability to see medicine as a calling and not merely a job. The author succeeded by allowing his specific suggestions and recommendations for self-care to meld with his more existential perspectives about the qualities and habits that lead to fulfillment as a physician. The book begins with a description of the daunting risks of residency training, including anxiety and depression, burn-out, substance abuse, harassment, troubled relationships, and suicide. Happily, by the end of the first chapter, the author had created a framework of crucial elements for well-being during residency, including selection of a humane residency, self-care, personal and professional relationships, learning and teaching, professionalism, and financial management, each of which was developed in subsequent chapters. The table of contents and index are well-organized and include many internet resources. Most chapters are a blend of narrative writing and lists of related sources of self-help information. The author was a practicing psychiatrist and an Associate Professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Community and Family Medicine at the University of Toronto. He provided both Canadian and US resources that take into account the residency and medical practice differences between the two countries. Although his audience is primarily graduating medical students and current house staff, training directors and teaching faculty across specialties have much to gain from careful reading of this relatively brief text.
Books Specific to Psychiatry and the Mental Health Professions Gask L, Coskun B, Baron D: Teaching Psychiatry: Putting Theory into Practice. West Sussex, John Wiley & Sons, 2011; 267 Pages; $89.99 The editors of this most recent addition to the growing bibliography of psychiatry education set out to cover the topic thoroughly across two broad dimensions, longitudinally from medical school through graduate medical education and geographically across international boundaries. The former task is not unlike other works on the topic. The later, ironically, may have weakened the book by diffusing its focus with lengthy discussions of differences among countries and cultures that
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would be useful for surveyors, but less so to an individual educator. Even so, there is much about this book that is admirable and useful. The chapters are short, focused, well referenced, and accessibly summarized in clear tables and other graphics. The sections on curriculum development, how to teach interviewing, use of feedback, and the role of supervision are especially well presented and useful. A chapter on teaching research methodology is rich in teaching content as well as methods, and would make an ideal outline for teachers. The standardized patient chapter is exemplary in its presentation of practical examples that could be readily implemented, but at the expense of little background information or evidence of efficacy. Other chapters would be of variable utility depending on the reader's background. For example, the chapter on problem-based learning includes extensive introductory information justifying the technique and a good deal of text describing different aspects of the process, along with a sample case, but the mechanics of problem-based learning (PBL) are described only in passing. A unique contribution is a detailed chapter on student welfare and support that is unusually specific in its review of mental health issues among medical trainees and mentioned issues in how to develop experts to do work with this population. Overall, the book is a fine addition to the genre, but not the final word on the topic. Roberts LW, Hilty DM: Handbook of Career Development in Academic Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Press, 2006; 340 Pages; $66.00 The Handbook of Career Development was sponsored by the Association for Academic Psychiatry and reflects its mission to enhance education practice and facilitate the career development of educators. It opens with a wonderfully insightful personal reflection on what it takes to succeed in an academic career. The book is divided into sections based on stages of a career, from finding a first job to assuming a senior role, making it useful across the professional lifespan and foreshadowing for junior faculty the skills they will need in future years. Especially impressive is the balance between chapters on teaching skills and those on academic productivity, highlighting the overlapping but nonidentical tasks required to be a great educator and to get promoted. Several chapters on research cover topics not commonly seen, such as how to write a grant and conduct a peer review of a manuscript for publication. The chapters are short, highly focused, personal, and reflective, with helpful examples of pertinent documents such as an academic CV and sample employment contract. Each chapter includes “smart strategies” and questions to discuss with a mentor or colleague. The book has only a few minor weaknesses. The chapter on promotion could have emphasized the importance of outside reviewers in the
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process and the importance of networking and engagement in national organizations a bit more. The chapter on theories of teaching is longer and less practical than the others. The section on how to search the research literature, though exceptionally practical, deals only with PubMed and is a bit dated. Despite these small flaws, this book is an outstanding addition to the genre of career guidance for academic psychiatrists. Kay J, Silberman EK, Pessar LF: Handbook of Psychiatric Education, Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Press, 2005; 379 Pages; $86.00 This Handbook is an update of one part of the authors' classic 1999 work, Handbook of Psychiatric Education and Faculty Development, but with a focus entirely on medical student and residency education. In contrast to Roberts and Hilty, the book deals primarily with how to run a medical student or residency education program, rather than how to be an educator. As such, it reads more like an instruction manual than a conversation with a mentor or senior colleague and its relative value would depend on which approach is of greater use to the reader. The chapters are detailed and content-rich, with a great deal of essential background information for education leaders, but with fewer practical guides on how to handle specific issues. There are twice as many chapters on residency than medical student education, but the choice of residency topics was somewhat haphazard, in contrast to the tightly organized medical student material. With its primary focus on program design and operation, the Handbook remains a useful adjunct for psychiatry educators. Andrews LB, Burruss JW, Core Competencies for Psychiatric Education. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Press, 2004, 145 Pages; $59.00 Although somewhat dated now by more recent changes in the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requirements, Core Competencies still contains several elements that should be useful to residency program directors. It opens with a clear explanation of what the ACGME and related organizations are, without delving into a detailed history of the organization. In contrast, the historical background of the ACGME competencies creates the ideal context to clarify and justify some of their more arcane expectations. By far, the most detailed and practical section is “How to Assess Learning and Competence,” which has a superb discussion of formative versus summative feedback and a brief review of how assessment tools should be designed. A series of 1-page descriptions of 13 specific assessment tools includes resident evaluation forms with detailed anchors for each item and sub-item. The chapter on definitions of knowledge, skills, and attitudes included
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under each general competency attributes them to an AADPRT workgroup and includes a few additions and modifications to current ACGME requirements, such as definitions of competencies for specific psychotherapies (brief, CBT, psychodynamic, combined, supportive). A brief discussion of how to incorporate these competencies into the program is followed by detailed checklists for the program director and coordinator. The latter was especially detailed and not found in most such manuals. The specificity of the sample materials in the book should be a boon to frustrated training directors trying to translate the broad concepts of the ACGME competencies into specific items for trainee evaluation (or trying to remember what systems-based practice is).
Books on Specific Learning Modalities Guyatt G, Rennie D, Meade MO, Cook DJ: Users' Guides to the Medical Literature: A Manual for Evidence-Based Clinical Practice, 2nd ed., New York, McGraw-Hill, 2008; 380 Pages; $75.00 This popular volume fills an essential niche for both the learning and teaching of evidence-based medicine (EBM). The authors carefully established the foundations of EBM with a discussion of its purpose, philosophy, approach, and limitations. The mechanics of how to formulate a question and search for information include detailed discussion and directions to cover the range of experience of medical students to experienced clinicians and teachers. Much of the book is focused on how to evaluate evidence, including chapters on confidence intervals, validity, and applicability of research studies. Many of these topics are covered twice, first in a survey chapter, then in more depth in “advanced” topic chapters. Statistical tests are approached conceptually rather than mathematically, from the perspective of what they mean rather than how they are measured. Throughout the book, key points of the text are outlined in tables and diagrams of varying degrees of complexity. Overall, the book is an effective guide to introduce and teach the mechanics of EBM for both trainees and practitioners, always with a focus on informing clinical practice as the goal. Clouston T, Westcott L, Whitcombe SW, Riley J, Matheson R: Problem Based Learning in Health and Social Care, West Sussex, UK, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010; 222 Pages; $75.99 Although introduced nearly 50 years ago, PBL has remained on the periphery of medical education in most settings, with fewer monographs on the topic than might be expected. Most of this volume was written by faculty at the School of Healthcare Studies at Cardiff University, rather than by physician educators themselves. Consequently, the background
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material is extensive and detailed, though not always essential for a practitioner. The chapters tend to be conceptual rather than directive, most appropriate for educators already familiar with the mechanics of PBL who want to improve their skills or move into a more pivotal role. For example, much of the book deals with interfaces between PBL and other models of learning, which would be especially interesting and useful for an educator to move from the novice to skilled facilitator. For those new to PBL or attempting to initiate a PBL program, the book would be hard to digest without a good mentor. Even so, it has few competitors. Michaelson LK, Parmelee DX, McMahon KK, Levine RE: Team -Based Learning for Health Professions Education, Sterling, Virginia, Stylus Publishing, 2008; 229 Pages; $27.50 Although originally developed to teach business, team-based learning (TBL) has gained popularity in medical schools. The first third of this book explains the basic principles of TBL and the specifics of how to design and implement a program in a general education setting. Two chapters are dedicated to a rationale for TBL in medical student education, followed by several more chapters on specifics of TBL that could be applied in any venue. Finally, the book devotes a large segment to testimonials from educators at the premedical, preclinical, clerkship, and residency levels of medical school, along with nursing, physician assistant, and exercise psychology programs. The book's strength is the clarity of its descriptions and explanations, making it possible for a motivated educator to adopt this modality without additional training. Its greatest weakness is the lack of specific examples of materials that work well in medical education, which may be the biggest obstacle for educators wanting to adopt this approach. The book has nonetheless become a standard text for TBL aficionados in medicine. Stahl SM, Davis RL: Best Practices for Medical Educators, Carlsbad, NEI Press, 2009; 287 Pages; $32.49 In a rare role reversal, a book from psychiatry was addressed to the medical profession at large. The premise of Best Practices is to base education practice on empirically derived
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principles of learning, a worthy goal to be sure, but in this case limited to traditional lecture-style presentations, without addressing the broader topics of content selection, alternative teaching methods, or learning outcomes. Taken within this narrow perspective, the recommendations are good, though unnecessarily laden with obscure and forgettable jargon and in some cases fairly impractical to implement. For example, it was hardly necessary to include a section on “proxemics” to make the point that speakers should stand where the audience can see them. Similarly, few lecturers are likely to devote much effort to the recommended personality assessment (“dominance,” “influence,” “steadiness,” and “conscientiousness”) of individuals in the audience. An educational needs assessment, in contrast, was mentioned only in passing. As is typical of NEI publications, the figures were graphically striking and clearer than most. For readers whose involvement in medical education is CME talks and an occasional medical student lecture or who need some pointers on public speaking or what good slides look like, the book is great. In other regards, the book falls short.
Implications for Educators & Monographs on medical education are an important component of academic psychiatry. & Familiarity with basic concepts, research literature, and best practices in medical education is essential for effective teaching. & Books on specific teaching modalities are available to aid educators in broadening and deepening their teaching repertoire. & Even veteran teachers may benefit from books that clarify and organize teaching concepts.
Implications for Academic Leaders & Development of academic resources is an ongoing need in the field and an opportunity to demonstrate leadership. & Familiarity with specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding education, leadership, and administration is essential for effective academic leadership. & Both reflective and evidence-based guides are available to help leaders improve their administrative and teaching skills. & Resources are available to assist junior faculty in achieving promotion and in developing leadership and administrative skills.
SPECIAL ELEMENT: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Medical Education Teaching Resources Michael D. Jibson & Lisa S. Seyfried & Tamara L. Gay
Received: 15 August 2012 / Accepted: 5 September 2013 / Published online: 16 January 2014 # Academic Psychiatry 2014
Abstract Objective Numerous monographs on psychiatry education have appeared without a review specifically intended to assist psychiatry faculty and trainees in the selection of appropriate volumes for study and reference. The authors prepared this annotated bibliography to fill that gap. Methods The authors identified titles from web-based searches of the topics “academic psychiatry,” “psychiatry education,” and “medical education,” followed by additional searches of the same topics on the websites of major publishers. Forty-nine titles referring to psychiatry education specifically and medical education generally were identified. The authors selected works that were published within the last 10 years and remain in print and that met at least one of the following criteria: (1) written specifically about psychiatry or for psychiatric educators; (2) of especially high quality in scholarship, writing, topic selection and coverage, and pertinence to academic psychiatry; (3) covering a learning modality deemed by the authors to be of particular interest for psychiatry education. Results The authors reviewed 19 books pertinent to the processes of medical student and residency education, faculty career development, and education administration. These included 11 books on medical education in general, 4 books that focus more narrowly on the field of psychiatry, and 4 books addressing specific learning modalities of potential utility in the mental health professions. Conclusion Most of the selected works proved to be outstanding contributions to the medical education literature. Keywords Medical education . Professional resources . Psychiatry education M. D. Jibson (*) : L. S. Seyfried : T. L. Gay University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA e-mail: [email protected]
Monographs on the topic of psychiatry education are an important adjunct to the briefer and more focused contributions of Academic Psychiatry. In the past several years, numerous works have appeared without a review specifically intended to assist psychiatry faculty and trainees in the selection of appropriate volumes for study and reference. This annotated bibliography was undertaken to fill that gap. Titles were identified from web-based searches of the topics “academic psychiatry,” “psychiatry education,” and “medical education,” followed by additional searches of the same topics on the websites of amazon.com, American Psychiatric Press, and several other major publishers, including Lippincott, McGraw-Hill, Norton, Oxford, Springer, and Wiley-Blackwell. Forty-nine titles referring to psychiatry education specifically and medical education generally were identified. From among this group, works were selected based on their meeting at least one of the following criteria: (1) the book was written specifically about psychiatry or for psychiatric educators; (2) the book was of especially high quality in terms of its scholarship, writing, topic selection and coverage, and pertinence to academic psychiatry; (3) the book covered a learning modality deemed by the authors to be of particular interest for psychiatry education. All works selected were published within the last 10 years (most within the past 5 years) and remain in print. Nineteen books met at least 1 of the criteria. These volumes fall into three levels of specificity. The first are general works on medical education that include or at least overlap with psychiatry education. The 11 books selected do not represent the entirety of the literature on medical education, which is vast, but rather included the authors' choices of the highest quality and most useful works for psychiatric educators. The second more specific level is comprised of books focused entirely on psychiatry or related mental health professions.
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Each of the four recent additions to this far smaller collection of writings was selected for review, irrespective of its quality. Happily, most of these works proved to be outstanding contributions to the medical education literature. Finally, four books on specific teaching modalities were included, chosen because of the attention they have received in professional organizations focused on psychiatry education.
General Works on Medical Education American College of Physicians Teaching Medicine Series (J. Ende, Series Editor) The ACP Teaching Medicine series was separated from the remainder of the books on general medical education to highlight the unique caliber of this work. These succinct, accessible, and highly readable books stand out in the field as the most comprehensive and successful attempt to cover a wide range of education topics in an integrated series appropriate for both new and experienced teachers. Although they were primarily written by internal medicine faculty, they are general enough to resonate across all specialties. The tone throughout is informed and authoritative, yet highly personal. Most chapters include clear graphics with bullet points and key concepts that clarify, summarize, and augment the text; some of these are extensive and wordy, but most are focused and concise. Nearly all the chapters include personal vignettes that convey both the cognitive and emotional challenges and satisfactions of teaching. For a program seeking to build a library on medical education or a young faculty member looking for a career guide, this series is an ideal place to start.
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Skeff KM: Methods for Teaching Medicine, Philadelphia, ACP Press, 2010; 141 Pages; $34.95 The editor of Methods is co-director of the Stanford Faculty Development Center for Medical Teachers and coauthored the book's first chapter, “Developing Expertise in Teaching.” As might be expected from someone who studies and teaches teaching rather than medicine, this chapter is less accessible than most; the density of the prose, numerous citations of educational research, and theoretical focus make it less appealing to the novice educator seeking concrete guidance. This is in contrast to the second chapter which gives a concise and practical overview of curriculum development. Extensive tables review common instructional methods, educational theories, and evaluation methods used in teaching. The use of real-world examples bridges the theoretical with the practical. Chapters on how to give lectures, facilitate small-group discussions, and design and conduct workshops provide helpful guidance to improve teaching techniques. The last chapter concerns continuing professional development and may be less useful to the majority of readers. Alguire PC, DeWitt DE, Pinsky LE, Ferenchick GS: Teaching in Your Office, 2nd ed., Philadelphia, ACP Press, 2008; 178 Pages; $34.95 This book is intended to help office-based physicians improve their teaching of medical students and residents while maintaining the fast pace of the ambulatory medical/surgical setting. Because of that perspective, this may be the least applicable to the practice and teaching of psychiatry of all the books in the series. Even so, there are elements that translate well, such as useful chapters on “Cased-Based Learning” and “Learner Feedback and Evaluation.” The latter topic was, however, covered from a different approach by other books in the series.
Ende, J: Theory and Practice of Teaching Medicine, Philadelphia, ACP Press, 2010; 161 Pages; $34.95
Wiese J: Teaching in the Hospital, Philadelphia, ACP Press, 2010; 325 Pages; $34.95
This first book in the ACP series offers vignettes and examples that convert learning theory (20 % of the book) into teaching practice (80 %). It provides a basic introduction especially appropriate to novice educators (regular readers of Academic Psychiatry may find some of the points a bit rudimentary), but it clarifies and organizes teaching concepts in ways that will benefit even the veteran teacher. The last quarter of the book is a special section on “Memorable Moments in Teaching and Learning,” containing numerous anecdotes and personal stories illustrating the power, joy, and humanity of teaching and learning medicine that are both moving and inspiring. The unique qualities of this book are its practicality and its personal perspective.
The first half of this book is especially useful, focusing on the unique opportunities and challenges of hospital-based teaching. Early chapters also speak to universal teaching principles such as role-modeling skills and behaviors. Chapters on how to teach clinical reasoning and nonclinical skills likewise have broad applicability, and although the examples were all taken from medicine services, they are not difficult to generalize. The chapter on feedback and evaluation, though brief, presents excellent direction for “emotionally neutral” immediate and summative feedback to trainees. The latter half of the book is comprised of “teaching scripts” for some of the more common clinical problems encountered on internal medicine services, most of which are not directly applicable to
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psychiatry, but may still serve as a template for similar scripts on a mental health unit. Humphrey HJ: Mentoring in Academic Medicine, Philadelphia, ACP Press, 2010; 265 Pages; $34.95 This especially well-written and readily digestible book covers a broad range of mentoring skills, populations, and situations. The authors held a range of academic ranks from junior faculty to deans, modeling the topic of mentorship by their coauthorship of several chapters. The first section of the book is less about professional development than development of professionalism, not exactly the same topic, though treated as such by several of the authors, limiting the scope of their discussion somewhat. These chapters include extensive discussion of professionalism itself, along with a detailed and perceptive consideration of differences in generational attitudes that challenge mentorship in this area. This is augmented by a chapter covering much of the same material from a broader, more philosophical perspective that invites the reader to question widely held assumptions about the nature of professionalism. The second section of the book includes practical suggestions for mentorship of students, residents, faculty, peers, and researchers, along with striking insights into positive and negative practices to develop or avoid. A final section on special populations includes chapters on mentorship for women, underrepresented minorities, and foreign medical graduates. These chapters are inconsistent regarding the goal of mentorship; the chapter on women deals exclusively with mentorship for academic medicine, that on minorities addresses both clinical and academic careers, and the chapter on foreign graduates focuses on their making it through residency. Although the entire book is excellent, the chapters on the fundamentals of mentoring, first from the literature and later from the author's experience, are especially insightful, illuminating, and practical. Pangaro L: Leadership Careers in Medical Education, Philadelphia, ACP Press, 2010; 265 Pages; $34.95 The title of Leadership Careers captured three separate but overlapping topics as follows: leadership, career development for faculty working in medical education, and the administration of medical education programs. Much of this volume focused on the day-to-day work of faculty, assuming leadership roles in the processes of education at the medical student and residency levels. These chapters are insightful, thorough, and highly practical, covering the essentials of operation for a medical student or residency curriculum. Beyond many other works on these topics, however, are three chapters at the beginning of the book that review the history and organization of medical education across the country and the typical organizational structure of a medical school. The historical
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information, though interesting, is less pertinent than the clear and explicit outlines of how medical education is structured, administered, and credentialed—essential information for leaders that is not always obvious to faculty newly appointed to administrative roles. The chapter on career development includes exceptionally lucid and explicit information on what it takes to get promoted in an academic institution. The broader topic of leadership is more often addressed in business schools than in academic medicine, and the tools of study tend to be anecdotal, reflective, and experiential. This volume follows that pattern with a lengthy final chapter featuring the personal reflections of individuals who have achieved success in the administrative hierarchy of medical academia. Though not critical information in the same sense as the rest of the book, the stories are compelling and inspiring, not least because many readers are likely to have encountered one or more of the writers in the course of training and early career.
Other Books on General Medical Education Roberts LW: The Academic Medicine Handbook: A Guide to Achievement and Fulfillment for Academic Faculty, New York, Springer, 2013, 486 Pages; $49.95 Please note that one of us (MDJ) contributed to two chapters of this volume. This book is similar in tone and design to Roberts and Hilty's 2006 Handbook of Career Development in Academic Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences reviewed below, but was directed to academic faculty generally, rather than to psychiatrists specifically. Thus, although the majority of the 78 contributors to this volume were drawn from psychiatry departments, the scope is broader and the authors were careful not to allow behavioral health perspectives to dominate its themes. The book consists of 56 brief chapters dealing with finely focused, practical issues that confront faculty at all stages of development. The result is a work of uncommon breadth and detail, filled with insights and pragmatic suggestions that are easy to grasp and ready to implement. The tone of the book is collegial rather than academic, with an emphasis on the experience of successful faculty, followed by just a small number of well-chosen references. The frequent use of tables, boxes, and bulleted lists facilitates quick overviews and highlights critical points. The book is particularly easy to use as a problem-solving reference, where the reader will be efficiently guided through a discussion of specific issues. It lends itself less readily to a cover-to-cover reading, for which the large number of brief, narrowly focused chapters may prove overwhelming. In this sense, it is rather like a visit with a good mentor, allowing the reader to define the day's question rather than having to sit through a course of material chosen for someone else.
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Holmboe ES, Hawkins RE: Practical Guide to the Evaluation of Clinical Competence, Philadelphia, Mosby Elsevier, 2008; 244 Pages; $57.95 Contributors to the Practical Guide were mostly from education accreditation and assessment organizations (e.g., the National Board of Medical Examiners) with expertise in education research and theory. This perspective was strongly reflected in the book, which is densely packed with empirical studies and references to theoretical concepts, at times leaning more toward the needs of education theorists than practitioners struggling to know exactly what to do to assess their trainees. For example, a chapter on written tests has a long and detailed review of published findings regarding these examinations, with little practical information on how to use them, although two small graphs convey the sobering reality of just how many questions are required to get a valid and reliable assessment of student knowledge. Even so, much of the book is excellent, particularly the sections on portfolios, the impact on clinical care of practice-based learning and improvement, and patient simulations. The editors have extensive expertise in the use of direct observation for trainee evaluation, and they include a detailed section on how to train the faculty to do these assessments reliably, a useful adjunct to psychiatry educators implementing the clinical skills assessments now required by the ABPN. Finally, the Guide includes a DVD with training videos of patient encounters at different levels of competence with specific commentary on why they were rated the way they were. Overall, the Guide should be of value to anyone with a serious interest in high-quality trainee assessment. Rider EA, Nawotniak RH, Smith G: A Practical Guide to Teaching and Assessing the ACGME Core Competencies, Marblehead, HCPro, 2007; 238 Pages; $179.00 A second Practical Guide covers much of the same material as Holmboe and Hawkins, but with more emphasis on readily usable examples for teachers and education directors. This approach is facilitated by an accessible tone without excessive jargon or theory and by extensive use of tables and charts for easy reference. The content of most chapters is comparable to that found in other sources, but a few stood out as uniquely valuable. The chapter on interpersonal and communication skills fills the first third of the book and does a commendable job of integrating the competency recommendations of several organizations with both specifics of behavior and how to evaluate them, even going so far as to recommend detailed teaching and evaluation strategies. This is followed by nearly 50 pages of sample assessment forms from other published sources, along with contact information to obtain permission to use those resources. Interestingly, the chapters on patient care and systems-based practice were written by a program
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coordinator, who made passing reference to “our profession,” speaking not of education but medical practice, a gentle reminder of the broad range of professionals who contribute to healthcare. The chapter on practice-based learning and improvement effectively demonstrates the role of evidencebased medicine in a didactic curriculum, on clinical rotations, and in medical practice, along with specific assessments for each setting. The discussion of portfolios in the assessment of this competency is particularly good. Overall, the book covers familiar ground, but includes a number of highly practical resources and detailed, ready-to-use forms in an easily digestible format. Cooke M, Irby DM, O’Brien BC, Shulman LS: Educating Physicians: A Call for Reform of Medical Schools and Residency, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 2010; 320 Pages; $45.00 Published by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, this extensive summary of medical education in the US includes its history, current state, and specific recommendations for much needed improvement and innovation. It begins with descriptions of programs and practices prior to Abraham Flexner's 1910 report on the deplorable state of North American medical education. The text quickly moves through the past century of teaching, accreditation, and licensing reforms. The authors identified four overarching goals for future undergraduate medical education (UME), graduate medical education (GME), and continuing medical education (CME) during professional practice as follows: (1) standardization and individuation, (2) integration, (3) insistence on excellence, and (4) formation of professional identity. Helpful case examples illustrate ways in which the current systems and practices succeed and fail in each of the above domains. The final chapter outlines seven detailed proposals for the advancement of US medical education and the health of the public. Recommendations for sweeping change include updated and forward thinking of medical school admission prerequisites and processes, unification of competencies across UME, GME and CME, faculty development with an emphasis on evidence-based pedagogy, increased focus on interdisciplinary patient care and teaching in ambulatory settings, and funding commitments to support educational infrastructure, innovation, and research. Stakeholders working in medical education, as well as funders, regulators, and professional organizations, will find this book to be well-researched and thought provoking. The authors made compelling arguments for revamping the present system in numerous ways. They made an especially persuasive case for seamless transitions of medical school to residency and residency to unsupervised practice. The text is tightly written and requires some prior knowledge of medical education's current configuration, funding, and regulatory structures to be easily understood. It is
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an especially interesting read given the historical timing, a century after the Flexner report provided a comparable analysis of the status quo with bold recommendations for change. Peterkin AD: Staying Human during Residency Training: How to Survive and Thrive After Medical School, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2008; 175 Pages; $25.95 The general theme of Staying Human is the importance of work/life balance and ways to enable trainees to preserve their humanity and ability to see medicine as a calling and not merely a job. The author succeeded by allowing his specific suggestions and recommendations for self-care to meld with his more existential perspectives about the qualities and habits that lead to fulfillment as a physician. The book begins with a description of the daunting risks of residency training, including anxiety and depression, burn-out, substance abuse, harassment, troubled relationships, and suicide. Happily, by the end of the first chapter, the author had created a framework of crucial elements for well-being during residency, including selection of a humane residency, self-care, personal and professional relationships, learning and teaching, professionalism, and financial management, each of which was developed in subsequent chapters. The table of contents and index are well-organized and include many internet resources. Most chapters are a blend of narrative writing and lists of related sources of self-help information. The author was a practicing psychiatrist and an Associate Professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Community and Family Medicine at the University of Toronto. He provided both Canadian and US resources that take into account the residency and medical practice differences between the two countries. Although his audience is primarily graduating medical students and current house staff, training directors and teaching faculty across specialties have much to gain from careful reading of this relatively brief text.
Books Specific to Psychiatry and the Mental Health Professions Gask L, Coskun B, Baron D: Teaching Psychiatry: Putting Theory into Practice. West Sussex, John Wiley & Sons, 2011; 267 Pages; $89.99 The editors of this most recent addition to the growing bibliography of psychiatry education set out to cover the topic thoroughly across two broad dimensions, longitudinally from medical school through graduate medical education and geographically across international boundaries. The former task is not unlike other works on the topic. The later, ironically, may have weakened the book by diffusing its focus with lengthy discussions of differences among countries and cultures that
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would be useful for surveyors, but less so to an individual educator. Even so, there is much about this book that is admirable and useful. The chapters are short, focused, well referenced, and accessibly summarized in clear tables and other graphics. The sections on curriculum development, how to teach interviewing, use of feedback, and the role of supervision are especially well presented and useful. A chapter on teaching research methodology is rich in teaching content as well as methods, and would make an ideal outline for teachers. The standardized patient chapter is exemplary in its presentation of practical examples that could be readily implemented, but at the expense of little background information or evidence of efficacy. Other chapters would be of variable utility depending on the reader's background. For example, the chapter on problem-based learning includes extensive introductory information justifying the technique and a good deal of text describing different aspects of the process, along with a sample case, but the mechanics of problem-based learning (PBL) are described only in passing. A unique contribution is a detailed chapter on student welfare and support that is unusually specific in its review of mental health issues among medical trainees and mentioned issues in how to develop experts to do work with this population. Overall, the book is a fine addition to the genre, but not the final word on the topic. Roberts LW, Hilty DM: Handbook of Career Development in Academic Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Press, 2006; 340 Pages; $66.00 The Handbook of Career Development was sponsored by the Association for Academic Psychiatry and reflects its mission to enhance education practice and facilitate the career development of educators. It opens with a wonderfully insightful personal reflection on what it takes to succeed in an academic career. The book is divided into sections based on stages of a career, from finding a first job to assuming a senior role, making it useful across the professional lifespan and foreshadowing for junior faculty the skills they will need in future years. Especially impressive is the balance between chapters on teaching skills and those on academic productivity, highlighting the overlapping but nonidentical tasks required to be a great educator and to get promoted. Several chapters on research cover topics not commonly seen, such as how to write a grant and conduct a peer review of a manuscript for publication. The chapters are short, highly focused, personal, and reflective, with helpful examples of pertinent documents such as an academic CV and sample employment contract. Each chapter includes “smart strategies” and questions to discuss with a mentor or colleague. The book has only a few minor weaknesses. The chapter on promotion could have emphasized the importance of outside reviewers in the
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process and the importance of networking and engagement in national organizations a bit more. The chapter on theories of teaching is longer and less practical than the others. The section on how to search the research literature, though exceptionally practical, deals only with PubMed and is a bit dated. Despite these small flaws, this book is an outstanding addition to the genre of career guidance for academic psychiatrists. Kay J, Silberman EK, Pessar LF: Handbook of Psychiatric Education, Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Press, 2005; 379 Pages; $86.00 This Handbook is an update of one part of the authors' classic 1999 work, Handbook of Psychiatric Education and Faculty Development, but with a focus entirely on medical student and residency education. In contrast to Roberts and Hilty, the book deals primarily with how to run a medical student or residency education program, rather than how to be an educator. As such, it reads more like an instruction manual than a conversation with a mentor or senior colleague and its relative value would depend on which approach is of greater use to the reader. The chapters are detailed and content-rich, with a great deal of essential background information for education leaders, but with fewer practical guides on how to handle specific issues. There are twice as many chapters on residency than medical student education, but the choice of residency topics was somewhat haphazard, in contrast to the tightly organized medical student material. With its primary focus on program design and operation, the Handbook remains a useful adjunct for psychiatry educators. Andrews LB, Burruss JW, Core Competencies for Psychiatric Education. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Press, 2004, 145 Pages; $59.00 Although somewhat dated now by more recent changes in the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requirements, Core Competencies still contains several elements that should be useful to residency program directors. It opens with a clear explanation of what the ACGME and related organizations are, without delving into a detailed history of the organization. In contrast, the historical background of the ACGME competencies creates the ideal context to clarify and justify some of their more arcane expectations. By far, the most detailed and practical section is “How to Assess Learning and Competence,” which has a superb discussion of formative versus summative feedback and a brief review of how assessment tools should be designed. A series of 1-page descriptions of 13 specific assessment tools includes resident evaluation forms with detailed anchors for each item and sub-item. The chapter on definitions of knowledge, skills, and attitudes included
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under each general competency attributes them to an AADPRT workgroup and includes a few additions and modifications to current ACGME requirements, such as definitions of competencies for specific psychotherapies (brief, CBT, psychodynamic, combined, supportive). A brief discussion of how to incorporate these competencies into the program is followed by detailed checklists for the program director and coordinator. The latter was especially detailed and not found in most such manuals. The specificity of the sample materials in the book should be a boon to frustrated training directors trying to translate the broad concepts of the ACGME competencies into specific items for trainee evaluation (or trying to remember what systems-based practice is).
Books on Specific Learning Modalities Guyatt G, Rennie D, Meade MO, Cook DJ: Users' Guides to the Medical Literature: A Manual for Evidence-Based Clinical Practice, 2nd ed., New York, McGraw-Hill, 2008; 380 Pages; $75.00 This popular volume fills an essential niche for both the learning and teaching of evidence-based medicine (EBM). The authors carefully established the foundations of EBM with a discussion of its purpose, philosophy, approach, and limitations. The mechanics of how to formulate a question and search for information include detailed discussion and directions to cover the range of experience of medical students to experienced clinicians and teachers. Much of the book is focused on how to evaluate evidence, including chapters on confidence intervals, validity, and applicability of research studies. Many of these topics are covered twice, first in a survey chapter, then in more depth in “advanced” topic chapters. Statistical tests are approached conceptually rather than mathematically, from the perspective of what they mean rather than how they are measured. Throughout the book, key points of the text are outlined in tables and diagrams of varying degrees of complexity. Overall, the book is an effective guide to introduce and teach the mechanics of EBM for both trainees and practitioners, always with a focus on informing clinical practice as the goal. Clouston T, Westcott L, Whitcombe SW, Riley J, Matheson R: Problem Based Learning in Health and Social Care, West Sussex, UK, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010; 222 Pages; $75.99 Although introduced nearly 50 years ago, PBL has remained on the periphery of medical education in most settings, with fewer monographs on the topic than might be expected. Most of this volume was written by faculty at the School of Healthcare Studies at Cardiff University, rather than by physician educators themselves. Consequently, the background
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material is extensive and detailed, though not always essential for a practitioner. The chapters tend to be conceptual rather than directive, most appropriate for educators already familiar with the mechanics of PBL who want to improve their skills or move into a more pivotal role. For example, much of the book deals with interfaces between PBL and other models of learning, which would be especially interesting and useful for an educator to move from the novice to skilled facilitator. For those new to PBL or attempting to initiate a PBL program, the book would be hard to digest without a good mentor. Even so, it has few competitors. Michaelson LK, Parmelee DX, McMahon KK, Levine RE: Team -Based Learning for Health Professions Education, Sterling, Virginia, Stylus Publishing, 2008; 229 Pages; $27.50 Although originally developed to teach business, team-based learning (TBL) has gained popularity in medical schools. The first third of this book explains the basic principles of TBL and the specifics of how to design and implement a program in a general education setting. Two chapters are dedicated to a rationale for TBL in medical student education, followed by several more chapters on specifics of TBL that could be applied in any venue. Finally, the book devotes a large segment to testimonials from educators at the premedical, preclinical, clerkship, and residency levels of medical school, along with nursing, physician assistant, and exercise psychology programs. The book's strength is the clarity of its descriptions and explanations, making it possible for a motivated educator to adopt this modality without additional training. Its greatest weakness is the lack of specific examples of materials that work well in medical education, which may be the biggest obstacle for educators wanting to adopt this approach. The book has nonetheless become a standard text for TBL aficionados in medicine. Stahl SM, Davis RL: Best Practices for Medical Educators, Carlsbad, NEI Press, 2009; 287 Pages; $32.49 In a rare role reversal, a book from psychiatry was addressed to the medical profession at large. The premise of Best Practices is to base education practice on empirically derived
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principles of learning, a worthy goal to be sure, but in this case limited to traditional lecture-style presentations, without addressing the broader topics of content selection, alternative teaching methods, or learning outcomes. Taken within this narrow perspective, the recommendations are good, though unnecessarily laden with obscure and forgettable jargon and in some cases fairly impractical to implement. For example, it was hardly necessary to include a section on “proxemics” to make the point that speakers should stand where the audience can see them. Similarly, few lecturers are likely to devote much effort to the recommended personality assessment (“dominance,” “influence,” “steadiness,” and “conscientiousness”) of individuals in the audience. An educational needs assessment, in contrast, was mentioned only in passing. As is typical of NEI publications, the figures were graphically striking and clearer than most. For readers whose involvement in medical education is CME talks and an occasional medical student lecture or who need some pointers on public speaking or what good slides look like, the book is great. In other regards, the book falls short.
Implications for Educators & Monographs on medical education are an important component of academic psychiatry. & Familiarity with basic concepts, research literature, and best practices in medical education is essential for effective teaching. & Books on specific teaching modalities are available to aid educators in broadening and deepening their teaching repertoire. & Even veteran teachers may benefit from books that clarify and organize teaching concepts.
Implications for Academic Leaders & Development of academic resources is an ongoing need in the field and an opportunity to demonstrate leadership. & Familiarity with specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding education, leadership, and administration is essential for effective academic leadership. & Both reflective and evidence-based guides are available to help leaders improve their administrative and teaching skills. & Resources are available to assist junior faculty in achieving promotion and in developing leadership and administrative skills.
