A Case for Bespoke Faculty Development Programs: Thematic Analysis of a Dental Model

This research was designed to identify themes and competency domains required for military dental educators to accomplish academic, operational, and leadership missions, support the future construction of a comprehensive developmental framework, and inform the study of other specialized non-military faculty groups.

Structured interviews were conducted of senior military dental leaders with over 300 combined years of academic and operational military experience. Inductive and deductive coding was used; a sensitizing framework based on the competency domains in the University of Michigan's (UMich) Health Professions Education degree program informed our deductive approach. This combined approach provided a mechanism for participants to confirm/modify the core domains established for multiple health professions within the UMich framework (e.g., deductive process) as well as identify additional unique competency requirements (e.g., inductive process). Thematic analysis of transcribed data was completed using the codes: Theories of Teaching and Learning, Teaching Practice, Assessment and Evaluation, Research and Scholarship, Leadership, and Additional Essential Characteristics, Factors, or Skills.

Data revealed five themes: Peer-recognized qualifications, desirable personality characteristics and motivations, military context (three sub-themes), academic competency domains, and priorities or prerequisites. Within Theme 4, eleven domains were identified, five from the UMich framework and an additional six identified as essential from outside the core framework.

This study provides a structural framework for the competency development of military dental educators based on an amalgamation of core domains for multiple health professions and additional domains tailored to unique military workplace requirements or context. Methods and findings could inform the construction of requirements of other non-military faculty groups.