Clinician-educator tracks for residents: Three pilot programs

Objective: Over the past 30 years, clinician-educators have become a prominent component of medical school faculties, yet few of these individuals received formal training for this role and their professional development lags behind other faculty. This article reviews three residency tracks designed to build skills in teaching, curriculum development and assessment, education research, and career development to meet this need. Methods: The residency clinician educator tracks at University of Michigan, Baylor College of Medicine, and University of California Davis are described in detail, with particular attention to their common elements, unique features, resource needs, and graduate outcomes. Results: Common elements in the tracks are faculty mentorship, formal didactics, teaching opportunities, and an expectation of scholarly productivity. Essential resources include motivated faculty, departmental support, and a modest budget. Favorable outcomes include a high percentage of graduates in clinical faculty positions, teaching programs created by the residents, positive effects on recruitment, and enhancement of faculty identity as clinician educators. Conclusion: Clinician-educator tracks in residency present a viable means to address the training needs of clinical track faculty. The programs described in this article provide a model to assist other departments in developing similar programs.