A regional teaching fellow community of practice

Summary Background Increasing numbers of clinical teaching fellows are responsible for a significant proportion of undergraduate teaching nationally. Developing a regional community of practice can help overcome the isolation of these posts, with potential benefits for all involved. Context A community of practice relies on the mutual engagement of people in a similar situation working towards a common goal. Working together and sharing resources enables teaching fellows to make the most of their post, which ultimately benefits those that they are teaching. Innovation We developed a regional clinical teaching fellow community of practice in Bristol in 2010/11. Our community has continued to develop since completing our posts as clinical teaching fellows, and has provided a platform for new communities to develop amongst the groups of subsequent teaching fellows coming through. We encourage all regions who have clinical teaching fellows to develop a regional community of practiceImplications We encourage all regions who have clinical teaching fellows to develop a regional community of practice. We also encourage trainees to join TASME (Trainees in the Association for the Study of Medical Education), a new national community of practice for trainees involved in medical education.