Academic competencies for medical faculty

Physicians and basic scientists join medical school faculties after years of education. These individuals are then required to function in roles for which they have had little preparation. While competencies needed to perform in medical school, residency, and practice are defined, there is little guidance for faculty.

An expert advisory group of the Faculty Futures Initiative developed a document delineating competencies required for successful medical faculty. The proportion of time faculty in various roles should allocate to activities related to each competency was also identified. Competencies and time allocations were developed for various teacher/administrators, teacher/educators, teacher/researchers, and teacher/clinicians. This work was validated by multiple reviews by an external panel.

Trial implementation of the products has occurred in faculty development programs at four medical schools to guide in planning, career guidance, and evaluations of faculty fellows.

The competencies and time allocations presented here help faculty and institutions define skills needed for particular faculty roles, plan for faculty evaluation, mentoring and advancement, and design faculty development programs based on identified needs.