Investing in future pediatric subspecialists: a fellowship curriculum that prepares for the transition to academic careers

Abstract

BackgroundThe experience of transitioning to an academic faculty position can be improved with standardized educational interventions. Although a number of such interventions have been described, few utilize an evaluation framework, describe a robust evaluation process, and address why their interventions were successful. In this article, the authors apply a logic model to describe their efforts to develop, implement, evaluate, and revise a comprehensive academic career development curriculum among pediatric subspecialty fellows. They describe inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes using quantitative data from fellow evaluations and qualitative data from faculty interviews.MethodsMethods are described under the input and activities sections. The curriculum started with collaboration among educational leadership and conducting a needs assessment. Using the needs assessment results and targeted learning objectives, we piloted the curriculum and then implemented the full curriculum 1 year later.ResultsResults are described under the outputs and outcomes sections. We present immediate, short-term, and 6-month evaluation data. Cumulative data over 3 years reveal that fellows consistently acquired knowledge relevant to transitioning and that they applied acquired knowledge to prepare for finding jobs and career advancement. The curriculum also benefits faculty instructors who gain a sense of reward by filling a critical knowledge gap and fostering fellows’ professional growth.ConclusionThe authors relate the success and effectiveness of the curriculum to principles of adult learning, and share lessons learned, including the importance of buy-in from junior and senior fellows and faculty, collaboration, and designating the time to teach and learn.

Career Development Support in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine: A National Survey of Fellows and Junior Faculty*

“…Perceived gaps in guidance are similar to the findings in a study of US adult pulmonary and critical care medicine fellows, where the authors noted that trainees’ academic careers may be better aided by providing more information on various career pathways, job expectations, and success rates (3). In another study outlining the general career development needs of pediatric subspecialty fellows, most indicated a need for better understanding of job search topics such as medical employment contracts and interviewing/negotiating skills to increase their chances of success in the job search (1). …”

“…Career development support for trainees can ease this transition and is integral for launching new graduates into successful careers as pediatric intensivists. Recent evidence shows that a separate structured career development curriculum can facilitate a smooth transition to academic faculty positions for pediatric fellowship graduates in general (1). Strong career development support is also associated with career satisfaction and professional productivity for both research (2, 3) and clinical careers (4–6).…”

Bridging the gap for future clinician‐educators

“…To be truly integrated into existing programmes, the CETP sessions should be scheduled during normal working hours; however, even with our sessions held after hours, two fellows could not participate because of clinical load. Although Rama and colleagues suggest that displacing clinical or research time may be necessary, our findings suggest that alternative scheduling, such as blocks of sessions of 3–4 months, would enable fellows to arrange their training schedules so that they can focus on fellowship needs during busy months and CETP training during less demanding months. As the programme matures, we expect to generate increased buy‐in from PDs, who will hopefully be willing to free up more of the fellows’ clinical time for this important training.…”

“…Formal programmes provide the most complete training experience, but they are expensive and time‐consuming. A number of programmes have recently been created for the purpose of training future CEs, and these have been shown to be a valuable recruitment tool . By conducting a needs assessment and pilot programme, we sought to further explore both the need for a clinician‐educator training pathway (CETP) and the process required to embed this into an existing fellowship programme.…”

Moving Career Development Upstream: Evaluation of a Course for Internal Medicine Trainees Contemplating Career Pathways in Academic Medicine

“…To our knowledge, only one program is reported in the literature that directly addresses career development for physicians-in-training with academic aspirations, which targets pediatric subspecialty residents. 8 Given this training gap, we sought to devise a program aimed at helping residents and fellows across our Department of Medicine better understand careers in academic medicine. We viewed this as an opportunity to intervene with trainees who may benefit from preparation before rather than after they assume the challenges of an academic career.…”