Mapping faculty development needs in medical education: a bibliometric analysis.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education Research
• Bibliometrics
• Faculty Development

Background:

• Faculty development is crucial for medical education quality.
• The scholarly landscape of faculty development needs assessment lacks systematic mapping.
• Understanding research trajectories, concentration, themes, and methods is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To bibliometrically analyze the intellectual structure of faculty development needs assessment research in medical education (2005-2025).
• To identify consistent faculty development priorities across diverse institutional contexts.
• To map growth, geographic concentration, thematic architecture, and methodological foundations.

Main Methods:

• Bibliometric analysis using Biblioshiny (Bibliometrix v5.1.0, R v4.4.1).
• Data sourced from Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed.
• Included publication trends, geographic distribution, citation patterns, keyword co-occurrence, thematic mapping, and collaboration networks, supplemented by narrative synthesis.

Main Results:

• Publication output increased eightfold (2005-2025), with accelerated growth post-2018.
• Research is concentrated in high-income countries, notably the US.
• Needs assessment, staff development, and curriculum were key themes; priorities included teaching skills, assessment, feedback, curriculum development, supervision, and scholarship.
• Methodology predominantly used cross-sectional surveys with limited evaluation beyond Kirkpatrick Level 1.

Conclusions:

• Faculty development needs assessment research shows substantial growth but is geographically concentrated and methodologically limited.
• Consistent priority needs indicate universal medical education challenges, necessitating targeted programming.
• Future research should employ longitudinal designs, expand global capacity, and measure authentic educational impact beyond self-report.