Scholarship for Teachers towards Enrichment in Psychiatry teaching Skills (STEPS) – first step in right direction?

Psychiatry education and faculty training are important components of enhanced public mental health services. There is hardly any initiative for enrichment of teaching skills. A unique initiative by Indian Teachers of Psychiatry forum and Minds united for Health Sciences and Humanity Trust, funded by Infosys Foundation, the Scholarship for Teachers towards Enrichment in Psychiatry teaching Skills (STEPS) began in October 2020. Applications were invited from all over India and 4 psychiatry teachers were selected by expert panel to undergo the scholarship program which had 20 contact hours (Online) spread over 20 weeks. All selected were awarded with Rs10000 scholarship. The program has topics that ranged from adult learning, specific learning objectives to specific topics like bedside clinics for UG/PG, online learning, self-directed learning, problem-based learning, principles of assessment etc. The resource faculty comprised of experts in medical education from India and abroad. The program also included tasks/assignments, reflections and feedback for assessing the participant teachers apart from the feedback of invited undergraduate and postgraduate students during the sessions. With the completion of first batch, the scholarship program is being reviewed. The feedback from recipient psychiatry teachers, resource faculty and involved students is time for reflection and ‘first step’ taken in the right direction in enhancing quality of psychiatry teaching / learning. The Need for STEPS in India: Dr Vinay HR, Department of Psychiatry, AIMS, ACU The STEPS Program Curriculum: Dr Kishor M, Department of Psychiatry, JSSMC, JSSAHER The Teaching Learning Methodology in STEPS: Dr Vikas Menon, Department of Psychiatry, JIPMER Assessment of STEPS: Dr Henal Shah, Department of Psychiatry, TNMC Online Teaching Skills: Dr Mahesh Jayaram, Dept of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Australia The External Assessment of STEPS: Dr Arun M, Medical Education Unit, JSSMC & St John’s Medical College The Uniqueness of STEPS: Dr Mohan K Isaac, Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Australia