Completion of a longitudinal teaching and learning certificate (TLC) is required for all PGY-1 residents. The TLC curriculum was specifically designed to train you on the expectations, roles, and responsibilities associated with teaching learners in didactic and experiential settings. Completion of the certificate program prepares you for a future role as preceptor, mentor, or faculty member. Each resident is assigned a TLC mentor and the curriculum consists of the following requirements:

TLC workshop

At the beginning of the academic year, you will attend an eight-hour workshop to learn the foundational principles of pedagogy, course creation, philosophies of learning, writing measureable objectives, and creating evaluation questions. The latter portion of the workshop includes case-based vignettes that focus on difficult or challenging scenarios that young preceptors may encounter.   

Formal presentations

You are required to provide continuing education presentations at various venues throughout the academic year. One such venue is Mayo Clinic Pharmacy Grand Rounds, where residents showcase pharmacology expertise to an interdisciplinary audience comprised of pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, certified nurse specialists and nurses. Mayo Clinic Pharmacy Grand Rounds is accredited for ACPE, AMA, ANCC, and AAPA continuing education credit and broadcast to all Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Health System sites across the United States. Regardless of location, learners can actively participate in assessment questions using state-of-the-art polling software on mobile devices. Formal evaluations on presentation skills are provided to you for continued public speaking development.

Informal presentations

Given the role of pharmacists serving as a medication expert at the bedside, you are required to deliver informal presentations to the interdisciplinary team that focus on succinct education pearls related to a patient the team is caring for. As a resident, you may have additional presentation requests by the interdisciplinary team while on specific learning experiences.

Precepting and classroom teaching

As pharmacy residents transition to future preceptor, it is imperative that residency programs provide adequate training, opportunities, and support to refine precepting skills. By learning and working alongside an experienced preceptor, you will be guided through your first precepting experience with an Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) student. After developing foundational skills, you will have a unique interdisciplinary precepting opportunity in which you are paired with a  medical student as part of their selective rotation program. Along with the experienced pharmacist preceptor, you will introduce medical students to the clinical pharmacy profession while also delivering didactic pharmacology lectures that better prepare them for the USMLE Step 1 Exam.    

Pharmacy residents also have the opportunity to provide didactic clinical pharmacology lectures to students enrolled in the Mayo Clinic Physician Assistant Program. With guidance from a pharmacist faculty member, you will engage in the creation of learning objectives, selection of pre-class material, preparation and delivery of case-based learning in the classroom setting, and development of assessment questions. If interested, you may also participate in the development and delivery of a simulated patient care encounter that encourages hands-on application of material covered in the didactic classroom setting.

Group facilitation and patient cases

During the spring of the academic year, PGY-1 pharmacy residents conduct group team-based learning using a patient case presentation. A pharmacy resident prepares and delivers a patient case while facilitating group discussion amongst pharmacy resident peers, Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine medical students and APPE students. Small interdisciplinary teams work together to develop a comprehensive pharmacotherapy plan, including selection of appropriate medications, dosing, monitoring parameters for safety/ efficacy, and expected outcomes. 

Teaching philosophy, portfolio, and certificate

In order to best prepare you to serve as a preceptor and/or faculty member at a College of Pharmacy, you are required to develop a teaching philosophy statement that highlights your beliefs on teaching and learning in pharmacy education. Once the teaching philosophy and evidence (such as evaluations and presentation slides) of TLC requirements are reviewed and approved, you receive a Mayo Clinic Department of Pharmacy Teaching Certificate.