Neumeier, A.

Abstract Foundational training in critical care medicine is an integral part of both undergraduate and graduate medical education. Yet, many medical school graduates enter residency underprepared to care for critically ill patients because of a lack of ubiquity of undergraduate critical care education and the heterogeneity of existing didactic and clinical experiences. This Perspective explores the importance of undergraduate critical care education, the current national and international landscape, innovative educational strategies and exemplar curricula, and recent advances in assessment that may better reflect learner-centered educational outcomes. As broad curricular reforms push medical education toward a more innovative, interactive, and collaborative future, now is the time to rethink and reimagine undergraduate critical care education.

Abstract Background Producing scholarship in education is essential to the career development of a clinician-educator. Challenges to scholarly production include a lack of resources, time, expertise, and collaborators. Objective To develop communities of practice for education scholarship through an international society to increase community and academic productivity. Methods We developed multi-institutional scholarship pods within the American Thoracic Society through the creation of a working group (2017–2019). Pods met virtually, and meetings were goal focused to advance education scholarship within their area of interest. To understand the impact of these scholarship pods, we surveyed pod leaders and members in 2021 and analyzed the academic productivity of each pod via a survey of pod leaders and a review of the PubMed index. Results Nine pods were created, each with an assigned educational topic. The survey had a response rate of 76.6%. The perceived benefits were the opportunity to meet colleagues with similar interests at other institutions, production of scholarly work, and engagement in new experiences. The main challenges were difficulty finding times to meet because of competing clinical demands and aligning times among pod members. Regarding academic productivity, eight publications, four conference presentations, and one webinar/podcast were produced by six of the nine pods. Conclusion The development of communities of practice resulted in increased multi-site collaboration, with boosted academic productivity as well as an enhanced sense of belonging. Multiple challenges remain but can likely be overcome with accountability, early discussion of roles and expectations, and clear delegation of tasks and authorship.