The Morehouse Faculty Development Program: methods and 3-year outcomes

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Faculty Development
• Health Equity

Background:

• Underrepresented minorities (URM) are significantly underrepresented in medical school faculty, particularly in family medicine.
• Addressing this disparity is crucial for diversifying the physician workforce and improving healthcare for diverse populations.
• Existing faculty development models have not adequately focused on increasing URM faculty representation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present an effective faculty development model at Morehouse School of Medicine designed to train underrepresented minority physicians as academic family medicine faculty.
• To evaluate the outcomes of this model in terms of participant numbers, diversity, and teaching engagement.

Main Methods:

• A faculty development program was implemented from 1993-1996.
• The curriculum integrated cultural issues in teaching and communication.
• Participants included community-based physicians, new and existing faculty, and fellows, with a focus on URM individuals.

Main Results:

• 35 participants were trained, with 33 identifying as URM.
• 73% of program graduates are now teaching medical students or residents.
• The model successfully trained a large cohort of URM physicians for academic family medicine roles.

Conclusions:

• Faculty development is a viable strategy for increasing URM representation in academic family medicine.
• Institutional commitment and networking with minority health professionals are essential for success.
• Further research is needed to assess model replicability, cost-effectiveness, and academic outcomes.