Developing the pedagogical competencies of medical residency educators: Abem’s social accountability

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction: Developing pedagogical competencies of health professional’s educators is complex and requires continuous evaluation to ensure effectiveness and sustainability. Objective: To describe a national postgraduate course model in pedagogical competencies, to characterize the sociodemographic and educational profile of participants involved in medical residency programs, and to analyze changes in self-reported pedagogical competencies before and after course completion. Methods: This cross-sectional study included faculty and preceptors selected through a national public call, comprising three cohorts of a postgraduate course, with 45 places distributed across nine regional divisions of the Brazilian Association of Medical Education. Eligible participants were actively involved in medical residency programs. All participants completed baseline questionnaires addressing sociodemographic characteristics and professional background. Participants from the first cohort that had completed the course additionally performed self-assessment of pedagogical competencies in four domains: role as educator, relationship with learners, teamwork, and assessment systems. These evaluations were conducted before and between one and six months after course completion. Comparisons were performed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: Of 261 selected candidates, 97 (71.85%) filled the 135 available places, representing all regions of the country. Among these, 62 (63.91%) were involved in medical residency programs, predominantly physicians (74.22%). Regarding institutional affiliation, 29.03% worked exclusively in public institutions and 19.35% exclusively in private institutions. In terms of academic qualifications, 29.03% held a doctoral degree and 40.32% a master’s degree. Half of the participants had more than 20 years of experience in preceptorship. In the first completed cohort (n=30), self-assessment demonstrated significant improvements across all pedagogical competency domains (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The proposed training model proved feasible, with low dropout rates and promotion of geographical equity at a national level, despite some unfilled places. The observed improvement in self-reported pedagogical competencies suggests a meaningful contribution to enhancing the quality of medical residency training and education.