PMMC Resident Boot Camps Benefit Participants and Educators

Innovations in Pulmonology, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine | Winter 2024

ATS Scholar, Brief Reports, January 2024

The Resident Boot Camp (RBC) in Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine (PCCM), which takes place each year at the American Thoracic Society’s (ATS) annual conference, closes gaps in incoming fellows’ readiness and helps develop necessary critical skills, thus alleviating their anxiety and increasing confidence.

Previous assessments of RBCs focused on learners and their outcomes. In 2023, the ATS evaluated the experience of participating RBC educators — a combination of physicians and other fellows — at its international conference. No tools exist currently to assess RBC instructors, so the nine-person evaluation team — including Maroun Matta, MD, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, and Associate Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine — developed and implemented its own survey using Likert scale questions.

Both fellows and self-described clinician-educators reported that the overall RBC teaching experience was “positive” or “very positive.” Furthermore, participation in the RBC helped respondents be more skilled educators, expanded their social networks and increased their engagement and participation in the ATS. These results support earlier studies that demonstrate fellows value opportunities to develop their teaching skills.

The RBC also benefits the ATS in that educators tend to lead the way in innovation and are more likely to engage in society activities. Overall, the review team concluded the ATS RBC is beneficial for all stakeholders.