Testing a model of academic career development

This study, based on a survey of current faculty members, confirms the previously proposed professional identity model of Knopke and Anderson. This model had predicted that personal and resident learner issues would be influential aspects of a faculty member's professional developmental needs and that during the initial years as a faculty member the influence of institutional issues would be less important. The study found that major concerns of new faculty members appeared to be: 1) acting as a role model; 2) developing teaching skills; and 3) maintaining clinical competency. New faculty were more likely to emphasize issues dealing with resident-faculty relationships if they came directly out of training programs than if they came out of practice settings. The study also demonstrated that the majority of family medicine faculty no longer came from private practice, and that a significant number now come directly from training programs.