Operating and Facilitating Faculty Development Programs

Operating faculty development

Faculty development in medical schools supports faculty members in their educational, research, clinical, and administrative roles while advancing their careers. Its scope includes workshops and longitudinal programs, mentoring, peer interactions, and reflection on work experiences. Running faculty development programs involves defining learning content, securing time for participation and opportunities to apply newly learned skills, and coordinating the facilitators and organizational structures that support these activities.

Educational content and outcome evaluation in international faculty development

A scoping review of faculty development outside the United States and Canada examined program content, effects, and national characteristics, focusing on the educational roles of medical educators (Philibert et al., 2019). The research team used an enhanced five-stage scoping review process, searching MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and ERIC for English-language publications up to December 31, 2018. The review included intervention studies, program descriptions, needs analyses, and perspective articles. It extracted data on country, intervention type and duration, design, outcomes, costs, barriers, and facilitators. Of 3,320 retrieved citations, 149 articles were included, of which 83 were intervention studies. The included literature was published between spring 1986 and December 2018. The literature from Korea comprised 4 articles, including 3 intervention studies and 1 needs analysis.

Programs ranged from single sessions lasting 60 to 90 minutes to longitudinal programs lasting over a year. Common needs included small-group teaching, teaching communication and counseling, evaluating professionalism, assessment and feedback, and curriculum design and evaluation. No differences in educational topics were identified between OECD member countries and developing economies. Among the 83 intervention studies, 68 (82%) used a single-group design, and 74 (89%) used the Kirkpatrick outcomes classification. Among the 28 articles (34%) that evaluated outcomes using external data, 23 (82%) reported positive effects, 3 (11%) reported mixed effects, and 2 (7%) reported no intended effects. All 46 articles (55%) that used self-reports reported positive results, and 11 studies (13%) observed educational behaviors.

The research team mapped 18 faculty roles across 6 categories: information provider, role model, facilitator, assessor, planner, and resource developer. The resulting blueprint connected these roles to the activities of novice, intermediate, and expert educators. Activities progress from observation and study of the literature to practice and feedback, followed by peer mentoring and leadership of institutional activities. The literature on multinational collaboration comprised 22 articles and included initiatives such as FAIMER and EURACT. Curating online resources and using self-directed and small-group activities were proposed as strategies for resource-constrained environments. In graduate medical education, clinical productivity demands constrained educational roles, and 3 studies reported costs. The review’s focus on English-language publications limits the interpretation of national experiences of program delivery.

History and operational structure of domestic faculty development

A review of the current status of domestic faculty development and strategies for its advancement linked approximately 50 years of program experience to the expansion of faculty roles (Lee, 2024). The review searched the Korea Citation Index, Research Information Sharing Service, and PubMed between April 21 and May 30, 2024, combining the terms “faculty development”, “faculty development program”, and “competence”. The review identified the first medical education seminar in 1971 as the starting point of domestic faculty development. It described the 10 annual seminars and workshops of the National Teacher Training Center for Health Personnel (NTTC), established in 1975, and the new faculty workshops initiated in 1981. Yonsei University’s 1972 medical education seminar, 1976 new faculty training, and 1998 ‘book reading’ program illustrate faculty development at the university level. Apart from the new faculty workshops, programs typically provided 3 to 5 hours of activities annually.

Domestic research began to include program reports and needs assessments in 2012, later expanding to evaluations based on the CIPP model, online delivery, career development, burnout, and work-life balance. The 2024 report and subsequent gap analysis by the KAMC Faculty Committee identified high demand for development in research, administration, service, and self-development. Specific needs varied by faculty characteristics. Reflecting this diversity of roles, the article proposed ‘CORE LEAP’, comprising common competencies (CO), researcher and professional competencies (R), educator competencies (E), leader and volunteer competencies (Lea), and practitioner competencies (P). Evaluation-related programs were divided into student assessment, medical education accreditation, and educational program evaluation. The framework drew on common competencies identified in previous literature. Expert reviews of the literature, Delphi research, and surveys were proposed as follow-up work.

Strategies for advancement were organized into seven areas: a core competency framework, a competency-based program system, faculty development communities, faculty development organizations, customized programs by university, diverse approaches, and institutional differentiation and cooperation. The article linked the development and sharing of content by expert communities to tailored program delivery by dedicated organizations at each university, proposing a system in which faculty development institutions pursue specialization and cooperation in parallel. This includes securing budgets and administrative support, as well as appointing directors, experts, and dedicated personnel. The article presented plans for joint needs assessments and advanced programs alongside specialized roles for the NTTC, KAMC, and KSME. The seven strategies form a roadmap for the next 5 to 10 years and beyond.

Design connecting faculty career stages and organizational support

An article on medical school faculty career development described careers as unfolding throughout life and encompassing identity and values. It examined the need for support from the perspectives of professional and personal development, organizational management, and social change. In a 2020 domestic survey cited by the review, 30.5% of medical school faculty reported high burnout across all three dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. The urge to resign was reported by 47.5%, and depression by 38.3%. The article presented adapting to roles and exploring opportunities as early career tasks. Mid-career tasks included managing increased committee and administrative duties alongside productivity demands. Late-career tasks included mentoring, leadership, and preparing for retirement. It discussed how female faculty and underrepresented groups require additional support, such as mentoring and networking.

Organizational support was examined in two categories: faculty performance evaluation systems and faculty development programs. The article cited minimum numbers of first-author papers, scores differentiated by author type, and 300% weighting for papers with an Impact Factor (IF) of 20 or higher as examples of performance evaluation criteria. It introduced faculty tracks as a way to structure evaluation around faculty roles. In a cited 2014 report, 42% of domestic medical schools reported having specialized faculty tracks. Faculty development was categorized by formal and informal learning as well as individual and collective learning. Activities included workshops, fellowships, peer coaching, online programs, workplace learning, communities of practice, and observation and reflection. Mentoring was presented as an approach to increasing the effectiveness of these activities. Research on domestic programs described a reliance on workshops and the challenge of encouraging voluntary participation.

The career development process was organized into six stages: recruitment, orientation, exploration, engagement, advancement, and retirement. For goal setting, the article introduced the SMARTER framework, which adds equitable and respectful to SMART. It proposed aligning eight elements in personal development plans: goals, resources, training, mentoring, opportunities, evaluation, rewards, and reflection. The 15-hour new faculty training course of ASK2019 illustrates a system that supports participation in learning. The review examined the relationship between an organization’s stated values and the messages conveyed through its evaluation and compensation practices.

Job characteristics and task-specific satisfaction among clinician-educators

A study of clinician-educators’ motivation for growth used a cross-sectional survey of pediatricians in the United States from January to March 2020 (Tcharmtchi et al., 2023). Participants were recruited from a survey firm’s pool of 12,000 physicians. Data collection ended when the target of 201 respondents was reached, comprising 55 (27%) educational leaders and 146 other participants. The research team applied the five dimensions of the Job Characteristics Model (JCM)—skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback. It calculated the Motivating Potential Score (MPS) using the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS). The full survey consisted of 22 items. The job characteristics items were reduced to 7 following review by 15 experts and cognitive interviews with 12 clinician-educators. The response scale was adjusted from 7 points to 5 points, and the data collection procedure was checked using an initial 20 responses.

Satisfaction rates by task were 80% for clinical care, 77% for teaching, 71% for mentoring, 30% for administration, and 40% for scholarly activities. Educational leaders were more satisfied with teaching (87% vs. 73%, p=.04) and scholarly activities (54% vs. 35%, p=.02) than other participants. They were more likely to report having protected time for education (44% vs. 23%, p=.002). Overall, 29% of respondents reported having protected time. The median MPS was 58, the interquartile range was 44–77, and the maximum possible score was 125. There was no difference by educational leadership status. Across all five task domains, median MPS was higher among satisfied respondents. Internal feedback, such as a sense of accomplishment, was associated with satisfaction in all domains. External feedback, such as recognition from others, was associated with satisfaction in all domains except clinical care.

In multivariate model 1, skill variety, clarity of work within task identity, years of clinician-educator experience, and internal feedback were significantly associated with total job satisfaction (R²=0.275). In model 2, MPS, age, and non-educational leadership roles were significant (R²=0.198). Because the measures were self-reported at a single time point, the relationship between job characteristics and satisfaction is best interpreted with the possibility in mind that respondents’ evaluations of different aspects of their work experiences may influence one another. The number of clinician-educators in the recruitment pool was unknown, so a response rate could not be calculated. There were no established normative values for MPS. The scores support comparisons between job characteristics and satisfaction within this sample. The authors proposed continuing professional development (CPD), educator communities, peer support, and formal recognition of achievements.

Negotiation, construction, and attuning by faculty developers

A study of faculty developers’ experiences focused on their role as facilitators who plan and deliver education (Baker et al., 2018). The research team used constructivist grounded theory at the University of Toronto and McMaster University. Purposive sampling covered career levels and the fields of medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech-language pathology, and research. Among the 31 participants, 10 were observed, 6 took part in formal interviews, and 15 participated in both observation and interviews. Initial data were collected over 6 months from April to September 2013. As contextual meanings emerged, the research team used theoretical sampling across program formats, locations, learner groups, and facilitator roles over 12 months from October 2013 to September 2014. A total of 21 workshops were observed for 73 hours. The 21 formal semi-structured interviews each lasted approximately 90 minutes. Through constant comparison of observation and interview data, the research team combined inductive categorization with concurrent deductive analysis informed by existing concepts of teacher competence.

Developers’ knowledge, skills, and identity interacted with institutional, program, and session contexts. Negotiating involved finding workable approaches within organizational structures and goals that were difficult to control. This included adjusting priorities when content intended for several days had to be delivered in half a day, and adding personal examples or participants’ experiences to prescribed materials. Constructing involved aligning adjustable conditions—such as co-facilitators, seating arrangements, materials, and breaks—with personal strengths and educational philosophy. Attuning involved gauging participation and the atmosphere, then adapting knowledge and skills to the needs of learners and co-facilitators. When prior negotiation and construction went smoothly, developers could devote more attention and energy to learners.

Developers learned by incorporating their responses into subsequent designs. Those who found it difficult to respond spontaneously built buffer time and learner choice into their plans. Those who had previously focused on disengaged learners adjusted their behavior to account for the energy needed to support other learners. When selecting co-facilitators, they considered complementary content knowledge, credibility with the audience, and ease of working together. Simulations and role-plays were proposed as ways to practice exercising judgment and responding to difficult situations during program delivery. These approaches were grounded in adaptive expertise and practice-based learning.

Reading notes

Participants and interventions differed between studies using external data and those using self-reports. The distribution of positive effects requires interpretation in light of each study’s design and measurement conditions. In the faculty developer study, 7 of the 25 observed developers were observed in two or more contexts. Interpretation of variations in performance across situations requires consideration of both repeated observations and experiences described in interviews. Research on learning transfer in faculty development within medical education institutions can examine the time, activities, and peer support coordinated by facilitators alongside participants’ experiences of applying their learning, allowing for a detailed analysis of how learning is used in practice.

References

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