Spaced education faculty development may not improve faculty teaching performance ratings in a surgery department

To determine the effectiveness of spaced education as a faculty development tool designed to improve teaching skills in a surgery department.

Faculty members were randomized to receive either weekly spaced education e-mails with content designed to improve teaching skills (group A) or no e-mails (group B). Using qualitative and quantitative surveys, we assessed both medical students' perception of faculty members' teaching effectiveness and faculty members' perception of the usefulness of the spaced education e-mails.

Academic medical center.

Twenty-nine surgery faculty members with teaching responsibility for medical students in their Core Surgery Clerkship.

All 41 medical students who rotated through the Core Surgery Clerkship rated the quality of teaching for each faculty members; 172 online rating surveys were completed. Overall, faculty members received high ratings on the teaching skills included on the surveys. Additionally, no significant differences were found between the perceived skill level of the faculty members who received the weekly e-mails and those who did not. Specifically, 53.8% and 54% (p = 0.47) of the faculty were felt to deliver feedback more than three times per week; 87.1% and 89.9% (p = 0.15) of faculty were felt to deliver useful feedback; 89.2% and 90.8% (p = 0.71) of faculty were perceived to encourage student autonomy; and 78.1% and 81.9% (p = 0.89) of faculty were felt to set clear learning expectations for students. Postprogram comments from faculty revealed they did not find the e-mails useful as a faculty development tool.

Students perceived high levels of teaching skills among the clinical faculty. Faculty members who received e-mail-based spaced education-based faculty development were not rated to be more effective teachers on the student surveys. Electronically based faculty development does not satisfy faculty expectations.