Executive skills for medical faculty: a workshop description and evaluation

As the healthcare system continues to change, healthcare professionals will need to assume an increasing number of administrative and management responsibilities. The goal of this article is to describe a two-day workshop on Executive Skills for Medical Faculty and the results of an evaluation conducted one year later. This workshop consisted of specific modules on analyzing time-management skills, determining goals and priorities, improving time-management strategies, assessing leadership styles and skills, and conducting effective meetings. The workshop evaluation consisted of an immediate post-workshop questionnaire administered to all of the participants, and semi-structured interviews, conducted on the telephone, with half of the attendees. Both evaluations were designed to assess perceptions of the workshop's usefulness and areas of individual change. Feedback from the participants immediately after the workshop indicated an overall satisfaction with the workshop content and methodology and a desire to try new time-management strategies. Evaluation of the workshop one year later indicated that the majority of the participants had determined their priorities more clearly, altered their time-management strategies, and planned more effective meetings. Less change was noted in the area of leadership styles and skills. Both the immediate and delayed workshop evaluations indicated that the most useful sessions were those devoted to determining goals and priorities, time management and effective meetings. These results suggest that a two-day workshop can improve health care professionals' administrative and management skills in certain areas. A longer workshop and built-in 'follow-up' activities would enhance the potential for change.     

Evaluating the long-term impact of faculty development programs on MCQ item analysis

Abstract

Purpose: Evaluating the long-term impact of faculty development programs (FDPs) can help monitor the effectiveness of the program and identify areas for development. This study examined long-term differences in confidence, knowledge, behaviors, and policies of faculty members who attended FDPs on multiple choice question (MCQ) item analysis and faculty members who did not attend the FDPs.

Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used, by administering a 24-item survey to a representative sample (simple random selection) of 61 faculty members at King Abdulaziz University Faculty of Medicine.

Results: Among respondents, 34% did not attend FDPs; 53% attended 1–3 FDPs; and 13% attended more than 3 FDPs on MCQ item analysis. Results showed that faculty knowledge on elements of MCQ item analysis was significantly greater (p?=?.01) for members who attended the FDPs. Faculty who attended FDPs on MCQ item analysis were twice more likely to conduct item analysis in general (p?=?.020) and four times more likely to conduct item analysis for more than 70% of module examinations (p?=?.005).

Conclusion: FDPs focused on MCQ item analysis can yield systematic changes on faculty confidence, knowledge, and behaviors. Moreover, FDPs also need support from the department and need sustained strategic support to ensure continued effectiveness.     

The formation of professional identity in medical students: Considerations for educators

Context: Medical education is about more than acquiring an appropriate level of knowledge and developing relevant skills. To practice medicine students need to develop a professional identity - ways of being and relating in professional contexts. Objectives: This article conceptualises the processes underlying the formation and maintenance of medical students' professional identity drawing on concepts from social psychology. Implications: A multi-dimensional model of identity and identity formation, along with the concepts of identity capital and multiple identities, are presented. The implications for educators are discussed. Conclusions: Identity formation is mainly social and relational in nature. Educators, and the wider medical society, need to utilise and maximise the opportunities that exist in the various relational settings students experience. Education in its broadest sense is about the transformation of the self into new ways of thinking and relating. Helping students form, and successfully integrate their professional selves into their multiple identities, is a fundamental of medical education.     

Community-oriented medical emergency programme: development and evaluation issues

A community-oriented medical emergency programme for multidisciplinary healthcare professionals on the Higher Professional Diploma in International Healthcare Studies, at the United Medical Education College, London is described. The main aim of the course is to introduce students to the clinical skills of dealing with medical emergency problems and situations. Students are also exposed to how medical emergency is practised in the community. The four-week programme consists of 16 sessions of clinical skills teaching where students are attached to various community clinics, 10 sessions of college teaching, consisting of talks, workshops and interactive small-group work and four sessions encouraging students to learn independently in a self-directed learning format. Student and tutor evaluations of the programme demonstrate that its aims are being met. However, further adaptation of the module to increase the range and quantity of clinical cases for student learning is being planned.     

Addressing the needs and priorities of medical teachers through a collaborative intensive faculty development programme

Faculty development in medical education is crucial for developing and sustaining quality education in medical schools. However, examples of successful intensive programmes based on experiential and collaborative learning are generally lacking in the literature. The Medical Education Unit of National University of Singapore conducted a three-day intensive programme on core competences in medical education. This paper highlights the process of programme development, programme structure, challenges faced and strategies adopted. It also describes the approach taken to educational programme evaluation along with the results. The programme structure was based on experiential and collaborative learning models. Participants contributed to all activities and emerged as facilitators and learners to gain first-hand experience of the complex educational processes. Each individual session was sequential with a brief plenary, demonstration, practicum and reflection. Pre-programme needs assessment showed that even the experienced teachers perceived a need to further improve their educational competencies.     

Taking stock of what is known about faculty development in competency-based medical education: A scoping review paper

Abstract

Purpose: The primary objective was to inventory what is currently known about faculty development (FD) for competency-based medical educations (CBME) and identify gaps in the literature.

Methods: A scoping review methodology was employed. Inclusion criteria for article selection were established with two reviewers completing a full-text analysis. Quality checks were included, along with iterative consultation on data collection and consensus decision making via a grounded theory approach.

Results: The review identified 19 articles published between 2009 and 2018. Most articles (N?=?15) offered suggestions as to what should happen with FD in CBME, but few (N?=?4) adopted an experimental design. Six main themes were identified with three main features of FD noted across themes: (1) The importance of direct and timely feedback to faculty members on their teaching and assessment skills. (2) The role of establishing shared mental models for CBME curricula. (3) That FD is thought of longitudinally, not as a one-time bolus.

Conclusion: This work illustrates that there is limited, high quality research in FD for CBME. Future FD activities should consider employing a longitudinal and multi-modal program format that includes feedback for the faculty participants on their teaching and assessments skills, including the development of faculty coaching skills.     

Giving effective feedback to medical students: a workshop for faculty and house staff

Medical school faculty members and house officers often feel uncomfortable giving direct, behaviorally based feedback on performance to medical students. This paper describes a structured approach to teaching faculty members to give effective feedback to medical students, using an interactive workshop format. Starting with six key principles for effective feedback, participants practise giving feedback to 'standardized students' and develop strategies for framing the feedback in terms which are useful for students.This paper also describes the development of the workshop scenarios and provides the authors'specific strategies for giving effective feedback in various situations.     

Medical students as feedback assessors in a faculty development program: Implications for the future

Abstract

Background: Little is known about simulated students’ ability in assessing feedback received in Objective Structured Teaching Encounters (OSTEs). We aimed to assess to which extent students’ perceptions matched objective analysis regarding quality of received feedback, to explore what elements of feedback they emphasized and what they learned about feedback.

Methods: In this mixed-method study, 43 medical students participated as simulated residents in five OSTEs at Geneva University Hospitals. They assessed quality of feedback from faculty using a 15-item questionnaire and gave written/oral comments. Videotaped feedbacks were assessed using an 18-item feedback scale. During four focus groups, 25 students were asked about what they learned as feedback assessors.

Results: 453 students’ questionnaires and feedback scale were compared. Correlations were moderate for stimulating self-assessment (0.48), giving a balanced feedback (0.44), checking understanding (0.47) or planning (0.43). Students’ feedback emphasized elements such as faculty’s empathy or ability to give concrete advice. They reported that being a feedback assessor helped them to realize importance of making the learner active and that giving effective feedback required structure and skills.

Conclusion: Medical students may identify quality of feedback. Involving them in OSTEs could be interesting to train them to become valid raters of supervisors’ teaching skills.     

The development and evaluation of a community attachment scheme for first-year medical students

This paper describes the development over 14 years of a Community Attachment Scheme for First Year Medical Students in Sheffield, together with feedback from tutors and students. The scheme involves pairs of students visiting families expecting a baby or experiencing an illness. The families are identified by general practitioners who act as tutors together with a behavioural scientist for groups of eight to 10 students. The scheme provides first-year students with practical experience of sociology and psychology in terms of family dynamics and illness behaviour. Assessment is part of the degree examination, and involves a written assignment on the family, together with tutors' assessments. The development of the attachment scheme took place in three phases, which are described together with feedback from tutors and students, as well as changes in methods of assessment. The basis of the Community Attachment Scheme has been self-directed problem-based learning in small groups with continuous assessment, and these principles have now extended to the rest of the medical curriculum in Sheffield, of which the Community Attachment Scheme is an integral part.