Faculty development for fellows: Developing and evaluating a broad-based career development course for critical care...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Critical Care Medicine
• Professional Development

Background:

• The transition from critical care trainee to practitioner lacks defined professional skill development.
• Existing training gaps necessitate novel approaches to equip fellows for practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel curriculum for critical care medicine (CCM) trainees focused on career development skills.
• To hypothesize that a curriculum co-designed by learners and experts can impart durable professional skills.

Main Methods:

• A professional development curriculum was implemented for 8 CCM fellows.
• Needs assessment involving faculty and fellows identified 22 key topics.
• Surveys measured perceived importance and skill comfort pre- and post-curriculum, with 3-year follow-up.

Main Results:

• 77% average class attendance; 87.5% survey response rate at all time points.
• Significant increase in skill comfort scores from pre- to post-curriculum.
• Comfort scores remained durable at 3-year follow-up, with high perceived importance.

Conclusions:

• A career development curriculum can enhance and maintain professional skills for CCM trainees.
• This educational intervention effectively bridges the gap between training and independent practice.
• The findings support the need for structured programs to facilitate the transition to critical care practitioner.