Medical Student

While there isn't a ton you can accomplish as a medical student to prepare for a career in education, there are a few tasks students can complete:

• Identify the residencies that will best prepare you for a role in medical education and work towards strengthening your candidacy for those programs.
• Talk to emergency medicine (EM) residency leadership at your school. Chat with them about their career path and ask if you can assist on any educational projects.
• Become a tutor.
• If possible, assist with or even spearhead your own medical education project. This can be as simple as a suturing lab or simulation, or as complex as a structured tutoring program for a specific course. Whatever you do, be sure to collect pre- and post-intervention data to complete a write-up on the project like a poster presentation or even a manuscript.

Choosing a Residency

Because no definitive pathway into medical education exists, there is no exact science to choosing a residency to best prepare for a career in medical education. That said, there are some considerations one should keep in mind based on their future career path.

Three- vs. Four-Year Residency Programs

The annual question facing those applying to EM residencies is whether to do a three- or four-year residency. Unfortunately, no definitive answer exists. Some will tell you it's easier to get an academic position directly out of a four-year residency based on the extra training and further-developed skillset. Others within the field advise this is not necessarily true as evidenced by the plethora of educational staff that completed three-year programs. That said, there are some considerations regarding this choice:

• Four-Year Residencies Offer Extra Time for Electives: No matter where you go to residency, to land an educational position somewhere you need to have completed educational work of some sort during residency. The definition of the work in education is varied, but suffice to say the extra elective time of a four-year program allows more flexibility in bolstering your credentials toward education.
• Most Four-Year Programs Will Not Allow a Three-Year Graduate to Teach During Your First Year Post-Residency: You cannot be expected to teach residents who have completed the same level of training as you. This doesn't mean you can't obtain a job at a four-year program, it just means you won't be in an educational role during your fourth year.
• Four-Year Programs are More Likely to Include the Option for an Education Track/Focus: Most four-year programs currently utilize the last year for residents to begin to focus on a specific area, including education. Some programs have established a specific curriculum to aid students in developing the skills of a medical educator known as distinction tracks. As distinction tracks expand, however, more and more three-year programs are beginning to add them.

Academic vs. Community Program

Many people believe that a residency at an academic program is necessary to secure a role in medical education going forward. This is not necessarily true. While academic centers have traditionally provided more opportunities for teaching due to the presence of an undergraduate medical education program, many academic centers are now sending their students to community sites, including during their pre-clinical doctoring courses. Furthermore, what matters most is obtaining educational experience. For example, this can be achieved by developing an EKG program for your fellow residents or your local EM interest group.

Presence of an Educational Distinction Track/Focus

Lots of residency programs have begun offering their residents the option of focusing on a specific area including education. Programs with a distinction track or focus have developed a specific curriculum for students to complete that helps provide the skills necessary to become a medical educator. While certainly not necessary to obtain a role in medical education, structured systems with developed curricula and faculty focused on developing you as an educator are not a bad idea in helping develop one’s education skillset. That said, in attending a program without a distinction track or focus, it is certainly possible to create your own track and not be constrained by established standards.