As a new to practice physician, it can be daunting to think about incorporating teaching into your practice. There's still so much we feel we have yet to learn ourselves, so what could we possibly have to teach others? However, I believe we are uniquely suited to be effective and impactful teachers due to our relative proximity to our learners' training stage; it was not that long ago that we were in their shoes. As a result, they may be able to see themselves in us more easily and envision themselves as family doctors. As a recent graduate from UBC's medical school who did my family medicine residency in Toronto, I was excited to reconnect with my alma mater and get involved with teaching the next generation of medical students. It feels like just yesterday that I was doing my first family medicine office visits as a first-year medical student, and so I was excited to have a medical student join me in clinic and be a preceptor myself for the first time. Admittedly, I was nervous – I remember thinking to myself "what if they don't learn anything?", "what if I don't teach them enough?", or "am I meeting their learning objectives?" It turned out to be such a rewarding experience, from watching them practice their physical exam skills on a "real" patient, to seeing their amazement at the diversity of patients and cases in family medicine. I left clinic that day feeling energized. At the end of their set of sessions, they shared with me that prior to this experience, family medicine wasn't really a specialty they were considering, and now it is in their "top two"!
So, to all my new to practice (or just new to teaching) colleagues, I encourage you to connect with UBC and see how you can get involved with teaching medical students and residents. You never know, you might be the reason someone chooses family medicine!
See the flyer to learn more.