Faculty development: a field of dreams

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Faculty Development
• Health Professions Education

Background:

• Eight schools participated in The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's "Preparing Physicians for the Future: Program in Medical Education."
• Faculty development is defined as enhancing faculty educational knowledge and skills to advance educational programs beyond traditional teaching.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe faculty development efforts across eight medical schools.
• To explore shared and unique topics, methods, and motivational strategies used in faculty development programs.
• To examine outcome measures for evaluating faculty development program effectiveness.

Main Methods:

• Descriptive analysis of faculty development initiatives.
• Exploration of program content, delivery methods, and faculty engagement strategies.
• Review of outcome measures used to assess program impact.

Main Results:

• Faculty development programs varied significantly among the participating schools in terms of initiation and activity.
• A range of topics, methods, and motivational strategies were employed, with both commonalities and unique approaches observed.
• Diverse outcome measures were utilized to evaluate program effectiveness.

Conclusions:

• The approaches and commitment levels to faculty development varied considerably across the eight schools.
• The study identified lessons learned from both the successes and failures of these varied faculty development programs.