Educational Affairs
Faculty development enables educators to better equip tomorrow’s providers.
The Office of Educational Affairs at the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville has offered faculty development opportunities for years. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s Common Program Requirements, or CPRs, state “faculty members must pursue faculty development designed to enhance their skills at least annually.”
The ACGME further notes that faculty development should be structured programming designed to enhance transference of knowledge, skill and behavior from the educator to the learner. The CPRs are for faculty, in aggregate, to have development opportunities as educators, as well as in:
- Contributing to an inclusive work environment
- Fostering their well-being and the well-being of their residents
- Aligning patient care with practice-based learning and improvement efforts
- Improving quality
In addition to the expectation that development is available to teaching faculty, annual evaluations must include a review of the teaching faculty’s participation in development related to skills as an educator, clinical performance, professionalism and scholarly activities. Over the years, on-campus development opportunities available to faculty have evolved and increased in number and variety.
Colleen Kalynych, Ed.D., and Elisa Zenni, M.D., with assistance from Renee Boyle, led the efforts in offering a robust and engaging development program for the college’s teaching faculty. Sessions were initially an hour long, with more didactic-type sessions offered quarterly. However, the program has evolved to meet the expectations of the ACGME and the needs of the faculty. Additionally, Linda Edwards, M.D., works with leaders from graduate medical education programs across the state to identify development opportunities and make them available at the UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville.
OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND
The following development opportunities are available to faculty members:
- Monthly faculty development sessions with continuing medical education credit in ACGME-specified areas. Faculty can receive an educational development certificate by attending a set number of sessions and completing a set of post-session questions.
- A general educational development certificate and focused certificates. Faculty members can earn a general educational development certificate by attending a set number of sessions and completing post-session quizzes. The focused certificates allow faculty to concentrate their development activities in one of the ACGME’s focus areas: as educators; in quality improvement; in well-being; and in diversity, equity and inclusion. The general certificate can be attained by participating in a variety of educational development sessions. Visit this link for more information about the certificate programs.
- Micro-lectures. Prerecorded 15- to 20-minute lectures are available for faculty members who are unable to devote a full hour to a session. They are great tools for small-group development sessions.
- Tuesday Teaching Tips, or TTT, series. In TTTs, faculty members watch a micro-lecture and later receive weekly tips to implement in the clinical learning environment for a variable number of weeks, depending on the number of tips to be shared. The TTTs have been well received and the next series is expected to be available in spring 2022.
- Peer review of teaching. College leaders expect all teaching faculty to participate in peer review of their teaching within the first year of their appointment as a faculty member. In addition, faculty members receive peer reviews of teaching for their mid-cycle reviews, as well as for their promotion and tenure packets. Faculty members who have received Exemplary Teacher awards from UF or have been recognized by their respective academic organizations for being excellent teachers serve as peer reviewers. The reviews are offered in a collegial way, with opportunities to provide feedback on ways to improve their teaching.
AIMS AND VISIONS
The faculty development program aims to meet the common program requirements of the ACGME. However, a more important goal is to develop excellent clinician educators. Success of our trainees depends, in part, on excellent educators. We will have a larger cohort of medical students on campus in the coming months as the regional medical school designation is achieved. We want to prepare faculty members for the spectrum of learners they will encounter. In addition, these development opportunities will lead to medical education scholarship opportunities.
Another goal is to contribute to the professional development and academic advancement of the faculty. We not only want excellent clinician educators, but also desire faculty members who are excited to come to work each day and train tomorrow’s providers.