NeuroSims for Teaching & Learning: Adopting a Simulation Curriculum for Medical Students Using Neurology Residents as Standardized Patients to Support the Development of Residents-as-teachers
Naman Bareja1, Camelia Valhuerdi Porto1, Galina Gheihman2, George Harrold3, Tamara Kaplan4, Catherine SW Albin5, Maria Antonietta Mazzola6, Joanna Suski7, Joseph Burns7, Ivia Rivera Agosto8
1Neurology, Tufts Medical Center, 2Neurology, Brigham & Women's Hospital, 3Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 4Neurology, Brigham and Women'S Hospital, 5Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, 6Neurology, Beth Israel Lahey Health, 7Neurology, Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, 8Neurology, BI Lahey Health
Objective:
To assess whether using neurology residents as standardized patients (SPs) in a case-based neurology simulation curriculum with formal observation and feedback develops residents’ teaching skills.
Background:
Simulation-based medical education fosters hands-on learning of clinical skills in a safe, controlled environment. Using neurology residents as SPs overcomes the limitations of manikins in portraying neurologic exam findings. Facilitating simulation exercises also provides residents with an opportunity to develop skills as educators.
Design/Methods:
We launched a resident-led simulation program for medical students at Lahey Medical Center, adapted from a prior curriculum which improved students’ confidence in recognizing and managing acute neurological emergencies (i.e. stroke and seizure). Sixty-minute simulation sessions are run monthly during neurology clerkship rotations, with pre- and post-session surveys administered to assess students’ self-rated knowledge, skills, and confidence. In our setting, we expanded the research to investigate the development of residents-as-teachers through faculty observation and feedback. Two residents facilitate each simulation and lead debriefs and didactics. Dedicated faculty commit to observing residents over two sessions. Faculty rate teaching behaviors using a validated scale, followed by focused feedback. Residents then implement feedback during a second teaching session that is rated by the same faculty. We will compare residents’ ratings between sessions to assess the impact of this intervention.
Results:
The study will run from July 2023 to April 2024. We anticipate presenting results for 45 students and 18 residents.
Conclusions:
We adopted a successful simulation curriculum for medical students using neurology residents as SPs. We recognized this as an opportunity to formalize residents’ training and evaluation as near-peer educators. Our study investigates if observation of teaching behaviors using a validated scale, paired with feedback sessions, will help residents improve as educators. Our program can be adapted by other residencies and helps extend the literature on near-peer teaching and learning.