Task-based learning as a way to promote continuous medical education and faculty development for preceptors on a Family Medicine Residency Program in Rio de Janeiro

The Family Medicine Residency Program in Rio de Janeiro had 50 preceptors and 150 residents when decided to start a process of faculty development and a reorganization of its educational plan. In the beginning of 2015 all 50 preceptors were divided into five different working groups (each group had 10 preceptors at that moment), as a way to promote activities for faculty development in a regular schedule. Each group had a meeting every month, safe from their working hours, focused on its own clinical subject (cardiovascular, maternal-child health, mental health and two groups on general problems and undifferentiated symptoms) and the task was to develop workshops specifically for first year residents. In every meeting they produced a workshop, that was performed for the first year residents weeks later, having the same preceptors that had built the workshop working as facilitators for six small groups of residents. Thus, the whole educational process had five different steps for the preceptors: 1. to raise the competencies needed to be worked; 2. to elaborate the activity; 3. to write a manuscript to guide the facilitators during the class; 4. to experience it with the residents and; 5. to evaluate it in the next meeting. Every activity had a problem-based learning structure, using a wide range of educational methods in it, such as role-play, brainstorm about clinical cases, building study questions, search and critical analysis of information and synthesis of ideas. In 2016, the working groups received a task to also develop workshops for the second year residents and for the other faculty members. The activities aimed core competencies that every Family Physician must develop during the years of training (communication skills; faculty development; multimorbidity and patient's complexity; curriculum, competencies and assessment and; research on primary care). Those groups work now as departments in the program, helping the coordinators on process management, decentralizing decisions and giving space for new ideas to sprout. After two years of experience some achievements on faculty development were made and the program have a new educational plan, based on the development of skills in Family Medicine, using active methodologies and sharing responsibilities among all faculty members. The idea of implementing a task-based learning for the working groups promoted a safe environment where all preceptors could have continuous medical education and faculty development activities. By making them work on their own manuscripts, it turned the preceptors into a more scholarly, wise and homogenous group of Family Physicians. The result of this endeavor received the name MULTIPLICA, which stands for “MULTIPLY”, and was published in 2016. With the help of the Brazilian Society of Family Medicine it is now available on line for all residency programs in Family Medicine in Brazil.