Residents as Teachers (RATs)

  1. Definition
    An important part of the residents' job is that of educator. Residents are responsible for teaching medical students, patients, and each other. They must have the skills necessary to provide effective teaching. Physicians entering residency training may not have learned these important skills during their four years in medical school. As a result, many programs across the country have been developed to expand and enhance residents' teaching skills.
  2. Requirements
    1. The University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine residents and fellows (child psychiatry; emergency medicine; family medicine, geriatrics, hospice and palliative medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, plastic surgery, psychiatry, sports medicine, surgery and surgical critical care) provide education to both residents and students.
    2. Residents and fellows in the school's training programs are required by each individual program to teach medical students rotating in required third year clerkships as well as in their fourth year electives.
    3. Individual departments have specifically designated teaching requirements, including content and skills for their residents and fellows.
    4. Further, there are UNR Med educational objectives that are over-arching each of the clinical learning experiences. These objectives follow this policy and must be incorporated into the teaching of students.
  3. Program
    1. To help residents, fellows, program directors and faculty achieve their teaching objectives and meet their programs' ACGME and the school's LCME accreditation requirements, a "Residents As Teachers" (RATs) program has been established.
    2. This program has several components:
      1. Web page with multiple units for residents to use to improve their skills
      2. Links to modules for faculty to use with residents annually as a requirement to help residents improve their skills
      3. Annual sessions at intern orientation to provide basic teaching skills as they begin their training
      4. Faculty development sessions
        • Train the Trainer - for program and clerkship directors
        • Department-specific teaching sessions for faculty at large
        • Sessions for adjunct faculty
      5. Excellence in resident teaching will be recognized by the Office of Graduate Medical Education in addition to awards presented at graduation and clinicians' ceremonies and posted on the GME web page. Individual departments will be encouraged to have teaching honor rolls of their residents who excel in student teaching.
  4. Medical Education Program Objectives