Developing and rewarding teachers as educators and scholars: remarkable progress and daunting challenges

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Faculty Development
• Academic Scholarship

Background:

• Addresses the 1988 World Conference on Medical Education's fifth recommendation.
• Focuses on training medical teachers as educators, not solely content experts.
• Highlights the need to reward teaching excellence comparably to research and clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review scholarly work on preparing and rewarding medical educators.
• To assess progress in faculty development and the scholarship of teaching.
• To identify challenges in achieving equity between educators and researchers.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of scholarly work on medical education.
• Analysis of definitions and criteria for educator roles and scholarship.
• Examination of faculty development systems and reward structures.

Main Results:

• Significant progress in defining educator preparation and faculty development over 30 years.
• Expansion of scholarship definitions and development of educator portfolios.
• Persistent cultural and policy barriers favoring research over teaching scholarship.

Conclusions:

• A holistic approach is essential to address structural inequalities.
• Requires advocacy for changes in academic rewards and support policies.
• Proposes clear career trajectories, expanded faculty development, and support for educational scholarship units.