Family Medicine - Foundational Teaching Skills Program

The Family Medicine Foundational Teaching Skills Program is a collaboration between the DFM and the Office of Faculty Development (OFDP) here at the University of Calgary. The virtual 5 session course is designed to provide you with the fundamental skills needed to be a great teacher. If you’re new to teaching or just want to continue growing your skill set in family medicine teaching, this course is for you!

The five sessions cover a range of topics, from an introduction to teaching skills, to providing feedback and identify learners in difficulty. Running May-June, each 90 minute sessions is held on a Wednesday from 12:00-1:15pm via zoom.

At the end of FM-FTSP, participants will demonstrate (by way of their teaching evaluations and feedback at the UME and PGME levels) successful achievement of the following objectives: 

1. Enhance Teaching Performance:
   Apply educational principles and cognitive psychology to improve teaching across various settings, including lectures, small groups, laboratories, clinical settings, and bedside teaching.
2. Provide Effective Feedback and Mentoring:
   Deliver constructive feedback and coaching tailored to help learners progress along their milestones, including supporting learners in difficulty.
3. Assess Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes:
   Develop and implement approaches to assess learners’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes
4. Create Safe and Inclusive Learning Environments:
   Implement strategies to foster a safe and inclusive learning environment, ensuring that all learners feel supported and valued.
5. Prepare and Mentor Future Educators:
   Act as a resource in Family Medicine by providing targeted faculty development, mentorship, and support, as well as taking on leadership roles in education.

Participants who complete the program (at least 4 of the 5 sessions) will be presented with a certificate of completion at the end.

Number of sessions: 5

Minimum commitment: 4 sessions 

Time: 12:00-1:15pm MT

Dates: 
Wednesday May 7, 2025
Wednesday May 14, 2025
Wednesday May 21, 2025
Wednesday May 28, 2025
Wednesday June 4, 2025

Cost: $0.00 

Objectives: 

1. Understand the importance of feedback
2. Identify barriers faced when providing feedback
3. Review strategies to facilitate feedback delivery
4. Moving from point in time feedback to coaching

Objectives: 

1. Understand the importance of working memory in promoting acquisition (storage) of content 

Objectives: 

1. Be able to compare and contrast analytical from non-analytical reasoning
2. Define heuristics and biases
3. Explore sources of reasoning error
4. Apply strategies to mitigate reasoning error

Objectives: 

1. Define and identify key elements of a safe learning environment
2. Select strategies to establish safety in the learning environment
3. Respond to issues that threaten safety within the learning environment

Objectives: 

1. Recognizing individual learner needs, and the factors that may impact performance
2. How to provide valuable and actionable feedback to the struggling learner 
3. How to work with an individualized learning plan, remediation or probation contract