Faculty development for family medicine: a status report

Stability in family medicine residency program growth has resulted in a trend to redefine faculty development in terms of changing needs. Recent literature has indicated these needs to be in the areas of increased research, improved clinical skills, reassessment of content and methods of faculty development, and changes in educational methods. To identify the status of faculty development programs in 1985, 126 family medicine university-based programs were surveyed. Data were obtained regarding the content of faculty development programs, the perceived competence of faculty in six clinical teaching areas and three academic areas, and the importance of eight areas of faculty development. The most frequent activity reported by the 74 respondents was in the area of teaching and evaluation. Research was the academic area listed in which directors noted a particular lack of competence. In the clinical content area, both procedural skills and critical care stood out as areas of faculty needs. Results suggested that more than one track of faculty development should be provided to meet complex and changing faculty development needs.