Twelve tips for teaching in the ICU

Abstract

The intensive care unit (ICU) provides unique educational opportunities for both undergraduate and postgraduate learners, including procedural training, ventilator management guidance, complex communication scenarios, and didactic lectures on dynamic topics like multi-system organ failure. However, certain challenges are inherent in this setting that can make teaching difficult. Different trainee educational backgrounds, variability in disease states, time limitations and urgent patient care considerations highlight some challenges that limit teaching opportunities. The following twelve tips address these unique aspects of the ICU environment and provide strategies to optimize teaching. These tips focus on three main goals: creating an optimal learning environment, increasing learner engagement, and critically challenging learners.

Keywords:

• Clinical; teaching & learning; internal medicine; discipline

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Program Directors (APCCMPD), who elected us onto their fellows work group and assisted with the writing of this paper.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest and have no relevant disclosures regarding this manuscript. The manuscript represents original work that is not being considered or has been accepted for publication elsewhere.

Author contributions

SD, MS, GW, and PL take responsibility as guarantors of the content of the manuscript. They all contributed substantially to writing and revision of the manuscript.

KK, RH, DD, and GB contributed substantially in conception and revision of the manuscript.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stephen Doyle

Stephen Doyle, DO, MBA, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Spectrum Health.

Michelle Sharp

Michelle Sharp, MD, MHS, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins University.

Gretchen Winter

Gretchen Winter, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Malik M. Khurram S. Khan

Malik M. Khurram S. Khan, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at University of Kentucky.

Rhiannon Holden

Rhiannon Holden, MD, is an attending physician in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine for WellStar Medical Group in Smyrna, GA.

Daniel Djondo

Daniel Djondo, MD, is an attending physician in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine for Suburban Lung Associates in Elk Grove, IL.

Gabriel Bosslet

Gabriel Bosslet, MD, MA, is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship Program Director, and Assistant Dean at Indiana University School of Medicine.

Peter Lenz

Peter Lenz, MD, is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship Program Director at University of Cincinnati.