Although studies surveying internal medicine (IM) residency program directors identify women's health as an essential curriculum topic, there are limited published women's health curricula for IM residents. The goal of this project was to develop and assess a three year longitudinal women’s health curriculum that uses the jigsaw teaching method (a cooperative learning strategy where peers deliver specific content in teams) to increase resident knowledge and confidence in managing women’s health in the primary care setting. The curriculum includes three 2-hour jigsaw workshops that are given annually to all 84 IM residents during their ambulatory blocks. Each annual workshop focuses on a different set of topic
- Year 1: Geriatric Women’s Health (Osteoporosis, Menopause, Urinary Incontinence, Abnormal Uterine Bleeding)
- Year 2: Reproductive Women’s Health (Preconception Counseling, Contraception, Diabetes and Thyroid Disease during Pregnancy and Acute Illness in Pregnancy)
- Year 3: Breast and Cervical Health (Breast Health, Cervical Health and STI screening and management)
Participants completed an anonymous pretest, immediate posttest and year-end survey to assess knowledge and confidence about the targeted topics.
To date, we completed our 3 year education intervention and data collection. We are currently assessing the full three years of data and writing up our results for publication. In October 2020, we were able to publish our first year module which covered geriatric women’s health in MedEdPORTAL:
Ng P, Kranz K, Abeles R, Schwartz D, Lane S. Using the Jigsaw Teaching Method to Enhance Internal Medicine Residents' Knowledge and Attitudes in Managing Geriatric Women's Health. MedEdPORTAL. 2020 Oct 23;16:11003. doi: 10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11003. PMID: 33117889; PMCID: PMC7586752.
We have been able to present our work at several national conferences including meetings for the Society of General Internal Medicine, Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine, American Geriatric Society, and the Centennial Congress of the Medical Women’s Internal Association Meeting.
