Creation of a Novel Hands-on Model to Teach Breast Tanner Staging to Pediatric Learners

Introduction Pubertal Tanner staging is a standard part of the pediatric physical examination and provides valuable insight into a child's growth and development. In practice, pediatric care practitioners have varying levels of confidence and expertise with Tanner staging. Currently, breast Tanner staging is taught via illustrated images or limited hands-on practice on real patients during pediatric residency training. Methods We used synthetic materials to develop a lifelike, 3-dimensional, hands-on educational tool aimed at teaching medical students and pediatric resident physicians how to identify and distinguish among the 5 breast Tanner stages. This tool was evaluated by a group of experienced pediatric endocrinologists. Results Thirty pediatric endocrinologists with an average of 16.7 years of clinical experience evaluated the model, and all participants believed the model was a valuable teaching tool for medical students and pediatric resident physicians. Tanner stages 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 were correctly identified by 100%, 93%, 90%, 100%, and 73% of participants, respectively. Conclusions We show that the use of a synthetic, 3-dimensional, lifelike breast model to teach breast Tanner staging may be valuable within the context of pediatric medical education. Further refinement of the model as well as curriculum development and evaluation is necessary before broadly disseminating this model as an educational tool.