Faculty development and human resources management in the academic medical setting

Faculty members of academic medical centers are resources of the institution, and their maturation is part of the academic medical center's program of human resource development. Although the individual is ultimately responsible for his own development, programs of human resource management should be developed for academic medicine. Four basic areas have been suggested for these programs: professional development, institutional development, curricular change, and organizational change. Professional development is the area of most activity but is limited mainly to assessing the faculty member's teaching ability. Research aimed at the evaluation of clinical teaching is a relatively new field. Medical student and house officer evaluation, the use of videotapes, and the enlistment of educational consultants and technologists have begun, but there is little continuing research using these techniques and others at most institutions. The evaluation material is used to help the medical educator but only if the faculty member seeks out and uses the evaluation material to improve his teaching skills. As the educational process is linked more to the rewards system of the medical school, such as promotion, internal grants, and merit pay, motivation for improvement in instruction will be more universal. Medical academic human resource management will truly arrive only when the faculty members themselves perceive the need and desire it.