Training Radiology Residents in Teaching Skills: Using the Kern Curriculum Model to Develop a Pilot, Residents-as-Teachers Curriculum

Background and objective Governing boards require residents to undergo Resident-as-Teacher (RAT) training. Both Radiology residents (RRs) and program directors have reported the need for this training. However, existing literature on radiology curricula remains limited, and information on outcomes, innovative strategies, and feasibility is unclear. In light of this, we aimed to develop, implement, and evaluate a pilot RAT curriculum specific to radiology, based on Kern's curriculum model. Methods Based on the Kern model, a curriculum was developed and implemented in 2021-22 and evaluated using electronic pre- and post-module surveys assessing participating residents’ self-reported knowledge, attitudes, and skills. Pre- and post-intervention results were reported as mean ± standard deviation (SD), and differences were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results Ten residents participated in the Teaching at the Workstation module, with 100% completing pre-and post-evaluation surveys. Residents felt more comfortable addressing gaps in medical students' (MS) skills (pre-test/post-test: 2.6 ± 0.52/3.1 ± 0.57, p<0.025), in understanding best-practice teaching (2.3 ± 0.48/3.1 ± 0.32, p<0.005) and more confident in teaching MS (2.6 ± 0.52/3.2 ± 0.42, p<0.034) and junior residents (2.6 ± 0.52/3.1 ± 0.32, p<0.025). Nine residents participated in the Delivering Effective Feedback module, with 56% completing pre- and post-evaluations. Residents’ understanding of best-practice principles in delivering effective feedback improved, but not significantly (MS: 2.2 ± 0.45/3.3 ± 0.49, p=0.059. Nine residents participated in the Delivering a Case Presentation module, with 100% completing pre-and post-evaluations. They expressed increased comfort and confidence in developing (2.11 ± 0.33/2.91 ± 0.30, p=0.008), preparing (2.11 ± 0.60/2.91 ± 0.30, p=0.020), and delivering presentations (2.22 ± 0.66/3.82 ± 0.40, p=0.025). Conclusions A pilot radiology-specific RAT curriculum was successfully developed and implemented. Participating residents reported improvements across multiple knowledge, attitude, and skill domains. By using universal learning strategies and peer-reviewed content, the Kern-based curriculum is potentially generalizable to other specialties. Next steps include incorporating faculty development to support these curricula and assessing higher-level evaluation outcomes.