Professional Development Coaching for Health Professions Graduate Faculty: A Pilot Implementation.

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Faculty Development
• Organizational Psychology

Background:

• Executive coaching is a proven strategy for enhancing leadership and performance in senior management.
• Limited research has explored the benefits of coaching programs specifically for academic faculty.
• Faculty in health professions universities may benefit from targeted professional development support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop, implement, and evaluate a professional development coaching program for diverse graduate faculty.
• To assess the impact of one-on-one coaching on faculty goal attainment and professional success.
• To explore the feasibility of a coaching model for broader institutional application.

Main Methods:

• A professional development coaching program was implemented, offering faculty one-on-one sessions with trained volunteer coaches.
• Participants received either four 1-hour or eight half-hour sessions per academic semester.
• Sixty-seven faculty members participated over an academic year, completing post-semester impact surveys.

Main Results:

• A total of 378 coaching sessions were delivered, amounting to 281 hours of coaching.
• Survey data indicated that coaching was effective in helping faculty achieve professional goals.
• Faculty reported high satisfaction and felt empowered for future professional endeavors.

Conclusions:

• Professional development coaching provides early evidence of value for faculty goal achievement and institutional contribution.
• The implemented coaching program can serve as a beneficial model for other universities.
• Further research can explore the long-term impact and scalability of faculty coaching programs.