Milestones as a Faculty Development Tool for Career Academic Physicians

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Academic Medicine
• Faculty Development

Background:

• The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) uses milestones for resident progression.
• Career academic physicians require similar guidance for scholarly activity and faculty development.
• Initial milestones were developed for family medicine academicians.

Purpose of the Study:

• To expand the development and application of milestones across an academic medical center.
• To assess the association between years in academics, faculty rank, and competency progression.

Main Methods:

• Institutional milestones were adapted by departmental leaders based on field-specific benchmarks.
• Objective measures for clinical and academic skill development were created.
• Faculty in five residency programs completed self-evaluations using these milestones.

Main Results:

• Fifty-three faculty members responded to the survey.
• A significant association was found between medical knowledge competency and progression from assistant to full professor.
• A trend toward significance was observed for professionalism and rank progression.

Conclusions:

• Developed milestones provide objective measures for clinician development and competency.
• These milestones can guide faculty development and mentorship programs.
• The general nature of these milestones allows for potential adoption by other physician specialties.