Developing a self-assessment tool for dental faculty to map professional growth

Area of Science:

• Dental Education
• Faculty Development
• Professional Competencies

Background:

• Self-assessment is crucial but rarely linked to the full scope of academic dentist roles.
• Existing literature on faculty competencies is narrow, focusing mainly on teaching and research.
• A professional development roadmap for dental faculty is currently lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define the comprehensive competencies and skill sets of academic dentists.
• To develop a faculty self-assessment tool based on self-regulation theory.
• To aid faculty in tracking and planning professional growth.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods approach was employed.
• A faculty focus group was utilized to refine and validate predefined faculty roles and skill sets.
• A self-assessment instrument with 31 skills and two interest/development scales was created.

Main Results:

• The study identified a broad spectrum of academic dentist competencies.
• A novel self-assessment instrument was developed to gauge faculty interest and development stage across 31 skills.
• The tool aims to provide specific insights into professional growth areas.

Conclusions:

• The developed self-assessment tool offers a mechanism for introspection on diverse faculty professional growth areas.
• This instrument can facilitate mentoring relationships.
• The tool has potential implications for faculty development programming in dental academia.