Clinician Educator Milestones: Assessing and Improving Educators' Skills

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Faculty Development
• Competency-Based Education

Background:

• The clinician educator (CE) role is crucial in competency-based medical education.
• Currently, no formal mechanism exists to identify faculty readiness for the CE role.
• This gap hinders systematic faculty development and evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a standardized set of competencies, subcompetencies, and milestones for clinician educators.
• To create a formal mechanism for assessing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for successful CEs.
• To support the growth and professional development of faculty in medical education.

Main Methods:

• A 5-step consensus-driven process was employed, involving a workgroup of 18 diverse experts.
• Initial drafts were informed by brainstorming 141 CE tasks and confirmed by consensus.
• Feedback was gathered through surveys of CEs and public comment before finalization.

Main Results:

• The Clinician Educator Milestones (CEMs) comprise 1 foundational domain and 4 domains of competence, with 20 subcompetencies.
• The CEMs include descriptive statements and developmental trajectories for each subcompetency.
• A supplemental guide, assessment tools, and resources were developed alongside the CEMs.

Conclusions:

• The CEMs offer a valuable tool for CE self-assessment and learning plan development.
• These milestones can guide the design of systematic faculty development programs.
• The CEMs are intended to evolve with practical application and the expanding role of CEs.