The authors in this letter plan to briefly describe the second workshop held from May 31st to June 5th 2009. This workshop utilized the experience gained from the first one to further improve the effectiveness and relevance of the training. The training workshops at KISTMC are held in the afternoon from 1 pm to 4 pm so that daily working of the hospital and the college are not hampered. The workshop facilitators are usually drawn from the college faculty with a few resource persons from outside. The workshop is held in the college auditorium so that establishment expenses can be minimized. The present workshop was held for six days with an entire afternoon devoted to facilitating small group learning. A session on audiovisual aids was added. Regular participant feedback was obtained throughout the workshop.

A total of 12 faculty members were selected to participate in the workshop. Both basic science and clinical faculty were selected. Certain senior faculties were also selected so that they can share their experience and act as cofacilitators during the group work and discussions. Participant knowledge was assessed both at the beginning and end of the workshop. Basic demographic information was collected and the participants’ knowledge assessed by noting their degree of agreement with a set of twenty statements using a Likert-type scale. The median score was calculated. Certain statements were negative and their scores reversed while calculating the final score. The median scores of individual statements and the total median score before and after the workshop were compared (Table 1). The scores of most statements and the total median score were significantly higher after the workshop.

The participants evaluated all sessions conducted during the workshop. The participants’ degree of agreement with a set of five statements regarding the particular session was noted. Median total score was calculated. The median scores of individual statements for most sessions were above four and the median total score was above 20. Table 2 shows the schedule of the workshop and the median total score for each session. The microteaching sessions by the participants were evaluated by a team of faculty members and not by other participants. The scores are not shown with the session evaluations. Medical educationists recommend obtaining regular feedback from the participants. Though there was provision for free text comments, the participants did not provide them.

Thus the department of medical education at KISTMC has been successful in conducting two teacher training workshops. New facilitators are being trained under the guidance and support of established medical educators. The sessions and group work on facilitating interactive learning were appreciated by the participants. The establishment and other cost incurred on the training were minimal. We plan to continue and further develop the training workshops. The department has shown that it is possible to conduct teachers training programs using mainly inhouse resources at minimal cost in a new medical school in a developing country.