Identifying Faculty Development Needs of Basic Science and Clinical Faculty in Preparation for Curriculum Change

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Curriculum Development
• Faculty Development

Background:

• Curriculum design is an iterative process for medical schools.
• Needs assessments are vital but historically focused on students, neglecting faculty needs.
• Faculty concerns were identified during institutional curriculum design via listening sessions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify faculty concerns during curriculum design.
• To inform the development of faculty development programs.
• To improve the iterative process of medical curriculum assessment and adaptation.

Main Methods:

• Semistructured interviews were conducted with faculty via Zoom.
• Inductive and deductive thematic coding was applied to interview responses.
• Codes were stratified to identify representative quotations within identified themes.

Main Results:

• Twenty-four faculty (8 basic science, 16 clinical) participated.
• Faculty expressed excitement but also concerns about implementation, primarily time and workload.
• Key concerns included role uncertainty, implementation timelines, clinical reasoning, and facilitator availability.

Conclusions:

• Semistructured interviews effectively identified faculty concerns for targeted faculty development.
• Concerns about time for faculty development and role uncertainty were most prominent.
• Findings guided the prioritization of efficient and targeted faculty development programs.