Clinician educators' participation in faculty development: A scoping review of academic and community-based settings

Faculty development (FD) improves clinical teaching and supervision, yet many clinician educators (CEs) find it challenging to participate. Personal and environmental factors and the FD setting, i.e. academic medical center or community-based settings, likely affect CE participation. This scoping review explores what is known about: (1) personal and environmental factors and FD participation, and (2) how these factors differ based on whether the CE is situated in an academic medical center (AMC) or a community-based setting.

We conducted a scoping review in CINAHL, PubMed, and Web of Science using terms related to clinical teacher, FD, and health professions. We included peer-reviewed articles published 2010-2025 discussing factors affecting CEs participation in FD in AMC and community-based settings. We synthesized data using conventional content analysis informed by social cognitive theory.

The search yielded 4,456 articles, of which we included 56. We identified personal factors (37 articles) and environmental factors (45 articles) affecting FD participation. Personal factors included motivation, beliefs, personal attributes, and identity. Environmental factors included access, program structure, provision of tools and information, interpersonal dynamics, incentives, policies and procedures, and workplace culture. Personal and environmental factors interacted to influence FD participation. Thirty-six articles discussed FD participation in AMCs, and 16 articles discussed community-based settings. While personal and environmental factors were largely consistent across settings, their manifestation, interaction, and impact differed between AMC and community-based settings.

This scoping review adds to our understanding of the factors affecting FD participation and the interaction among these factors, highlighting differences between AMCs and community-based settings. We recommend further exploration and consideration of FD approaches tailored to the unique blend of factors and their interactions in specific settings.