Fellows as Teachers: Supporting Future Educators

Abstract

Teaching is inherent to the practice of medicine, as physicians are relied on to educate those around them, including staff, trainees, colleagues, and the patients and families for whom they provide care. Neonatal-perinatal medicine fellows uniquely serve as both trainee and subspecialty expert and are additionally expected to be strong teachers. In this article, the authors review the benefits of developing fellows as teachers, the challenges and potential mitigating strategies of fulfilling this objective, and the educational foundations and future directions that may inform the development of curricula for training fellows as teachers.