A Longitudinal, Practical Curriculum for Faculty Development as New Coaches in Graduate Medical Education.

Audience and Type of Curriculum: This coach development curriculum is designed for faculty physicians who have little to no prior experience with coaching in medical education. Length of Curriculum: The curriculum was developed for use over an entire academic year (12 months), but can be scaled to as few as 6 months due to the degree of schedule flexibility allowed by the structure of the educational approaches. Introduction: As coaching becomes more common in medical education, faculty educators are in a prime position to integrate a coaching approach in interactions with trainees. Because coaching is a unique skill set that requires targeted training and deliberate practice, there is a need for a detailed curriculum for faculty development as coaches. Adequate training will ensure faculty understand the coaching principles and have built a level of comfortability with the coaching approach prior to implementation with learners. Educational Goals: The aim of this curriculum is to provide a longitudinal, practical, and interactive coach training curriculum for faculty with no prior coaching experience. Educational Methods: The educational strategies used in this curriculum include: asynchronous learning with assigned reading material to ensure a basic understanding of core coaching principles; high-yield synchronous sessions involving a mix of didactics, small-group discussion and reflection, and simulated case-based scenarios to provide opportunity for faculty to practice coaching skills. Each phase of the curriculum (three in total) uses a different educational strategy to address a specific goal and associated objectives. Research Methods: The educational content was evaluated with anonymous pre- and post-surveys that consisted of both Likert-style and open-ended questions. Surveys were designed based on the Kirkpatrick Evaluation Model. Three post-surveys were used to evaluate each phase of the curriculum. Results: Seven faculty participated in this curriculum. Kirkpatrick Levels 1 and 3 were used to evaluate faculty reactions and behaviors, respectively, in response to the curriculum. Participants reported a high satisfaction with the overall curriculum, increased understanding of coaching approach, increased comfort with incorporating coaching relational and communication skills, and increased comfort in approaching select resident scenarios. Unexpected results include faculty reporting use of coaching skills in interpersonal interactions outside of the professional space and an improved bond with other faculty participants. Discussion: This curriculum is an effective method for increasing faculty knowledge and comfort with coaching skills. This curriculum and its materials can be adapted for other audiences who have no prior coaching experience and seek to learn the fundamentals of coaching and its use in medical education. Topics: Faculty development, coaching in medical education.