Jumpstarting Academic Careers: A Workshop and Tools for Career Development in Anesthesiology

Career development is essential and has the potential to assist in building a sustained faculty within academic departments of Anesthesiology. Career development is essential for growth in academic medicine. Close attention to the details involved in career management, goal setting as part of career planning, and professional networking are key elements.

This article examines the specific educational strategies involved in a 120 minute workshop divided into four 25 minute segments with 20 minutes at the end for discussion for training junior faculty in career development. The teaching methods include 1) brief didactic presentations, 2) pre-workshop completion of two professional development tools, 3) facilitated small group discussion using trained facilitators and 4) use of a commitment to change format. Three major learning tools were utilized in conjunction with the above methods: a professional network survey, a career planning and development form and a commitment to change form.

Forty one participants from 2009 reported 80 projected changes in their practice behaviors in relation to career management: Build or enhance professional network and professional mentoring (36.3%); Set career goals, make a plan, follow though, collaborate, publish (35.1%); Increase visibility locally or nationally (10.0%); Building core skills, such as clinical, teaching, leading (36.3%); Identify the criteria for promotion in own institution (5.0%); Improved methods of documentation (2.5%). Over the past two years, the workshop has been very well received by junior faculty, with over 95% marking each of the following items as excellent or good (presentation, content, audiovisuals and objectives met).

The challenge for continuing development and promotion of academic anesthesiologists lies in the explicit training of faculty for career advancement. Designing workshops using educational tools to promote a reflective process of the faculty member is the one method to meet this challenge. We believe that this national workshop has initiated an increasing awareness of a core of junior faculty nationally having now delivered the material to almost 200 junior faculty and having trained seven facilitators in the usage of these materials.