Exploring Faculty Development Initiatives at Avalon University School of Medicine: A Case Study

As medical education shifts toward competency-based curricula, faculty must navigate evolving expectations for teaching, mentoring, assessment, and scholarship. Despite their central role in training future health professionals, medical educators often face ambiguity regarding career advancement through teaching. Promotion criteria in academic institutions are frequently research-focused, leaving faculty unclear about how to document and demonstrate teaching excellence and educational innovation. This gap can hinder motivation, professional identity, and faculty retention. This study aims to explore the faculty development activities at Avalon University School of Medicine, a Caribbean medical school.

This is a descriptive case study examining outcomes, including scholarly output, faculty ranking promotions, and fellowships, following the implementation of faculty development activities. Over 10 years, 20 medical educators involved in preclinical teaching were included in this study. They participated in various faculty development activities, including teaching, designing assessments, delivering effective feedback, developing curricula, and applying medical education research methodologies. Faculty members reflected on and practiced these practices in their teaching methods, assessment practices, and research in medical education.

A total of eight faculty members received the Academy of Medical Educators (AoME) Fellowship. Four faculty members completed the IAMSE fellowship. One received the AMEE fellowship, and another received an associate fellowship. One received the AdvanceHE fellowship, and another received a principal fellowship. During these 10 years, 42 publications by faculty members in peer-reviewed journals in educational research were published, 26 abstracts were accepted at International medical education conferences, and 8 faculty members were promoted in faculty rankings.

The findings from this case study indicate that the faculty development initiatives implemented at AUSOM were associated with enhanced faculty engagement in educational scholarship, professional recognition through educator fellowships, and academic career advancement. This experience suggests how a structured, longitudinal faculty development program can support faculty capacity building.