Expertise, needs and challenges of medical educators: Results of an international web survey

Abstract

The results of this survey indicate that medical educators face several challenges, with a particular need for more academic recognition, funding and academic qualifications in medical education.

A National Faculty Development Needs Assessment in Emergency Medicine

“…AEPs expressed a need for better individual and bedside teaching skills, including teaching around cases and providing effective feedback. This differs from a European study of medical educators, 23 which found greater interest in curriculum development and evaluation, learning research methodologies in medical At the same time, our results are also congruent with the recognized need for FD support of academic roles beyond the "clinician-educator." 5,7,13 The trend in these areas is towards the acquisition of skills translatable between all academic domains, primarily communication and people skills.…”

“…Dent et al 26 had a 58% RR, although this was the Australian College's sponsored survey of its members, its survey was far shorter than ours, and financial incentives were provided for completing the study, all of which may account for the higher RR. Huwendiek et al's study 23 of European medical educators had a purview much broader than ours (both in terms of multidisciplinary medical faculty and dozens of countries included), and thus it had a higher overall number of respondents, yet its RR was far lower than ours (4.8%).…”

“…Social accountability, as it is used here, refers to the obligation of physicians to direct their educational, research, and service activities towards addressing the health concerns of the community, region, and/or nation they have a mandate to serve. 34 Although elements of scholarship and social accountability were included in previous surveys under traditional category headings, 16,[18][19][20]23,26 with increasing recognition that these are significant facets of an AEP's career, 7,13,21 these latter two categories were added and expanded to allow for a more comprehensive evaluation.…”

“…24,25 Across the country, several medical faculties have conducted single-center needs assessment surveys, [18][19][20] though no comprehensive and uniform assessment has yet been completed in Canada. In contrast, a multi-centre European study 23 of medical educators, and multi-centre Australian 26 and American 16 studies of emergency medicine faculty, have been reported. These latter studies are also the only published multi-centre surveys of a FD needs assessment in emergency medicine and highlight a significant mismatch between the FD needs of and resources available to emergency medicine faculty.…”

“…2,9,10 More recently, the paradigm of FD has shifted; individual medical faculties are now offering FD curricula, the content and format of which is being informed by the faculty members themselves through focus groups and surveys. 4,5,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] These needs assessments are useful in identifying the specific gaps in knowledge or training that FD can address. 24,25 Across the country, several medical faculties have conducted single-center needs assessment surveys, [18][19][20] though no comprehensive and uniform assessment has yet been completed in Canada.…”