The Journal of Pediatrics
Volume 158, Issue 5 , Pages 693-694.e2, May 2011

A Framework for Faculty Development

Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Medical Center–College of Physicians and Surgeons, Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at New York Presbyterian, New York, NY

Article Outline

 

Faculty members are the most valuable resource of pediatric departments. Faculty members who are dissatisfied, “burned-out,” or intending to leave academics, although in the minority, are unacceptably common.1, 2, 3 Faculty satisfaction and retention can be facilitated with programs that address career development.4, 5, 6, 7, 8 On the basis of our experiences implementing faculty development programs in several academic pediatric departments and a review of the literature, we propose a framework for faculty development that identifies useful mechanisms to assist faculty members in achieving professional success and satisfaction activities (Figure; available at www.jpeds.com).

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Faculty Activities 

We propose that a comprehensive faculty development program should support 5 key activities: clinical care, education and mentoring, research/scholarship, service, and leadership. Historically, faculty development initiatives have traditionally focused on improving teaching and research skills.9, 10, 11, 12 More recently, programs have begun to better support faculty members in developing a scholarly focus for clinical programs and services.13 A development program must be sufficiently comprehensive to benefit all faculty members, regardless of their specific pathway (eg, clinician-educator, clinical investigator, laboratory investigator). Furthermore, all faculty members need certain, specific skills, regardless of their pathway, to be good “citizens” of their departments. Examples of such skills include reviewing manuscripts, participating as committee members, and mentoring trainees.

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Basic Mechanisms 

Basic mechanisms to promote development are available to all departments and adopted by many. The activities must consider the diverse needs of the faculty members. In addition to differences in their professional focus, faculty members differ on the basis of rank, length of service, sex, under-represented minority status, and family situation (eg, having young children or elderly parents).13, 14, 15, 16, 17

Mentoring 

The positive influence of mentoring on interpersonal and career development is well-recognized.18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 However, the success of the mentoring relationship depends on the skills of the mentor, the appropriateness of the mentor-mentee match, and the clarity of the “mentoring contract,” including differentiating mentoring from advising and role-modeling.25, 26, 27, 28 Specific teachable mentoring skills include giving feedback, managing diversity in the relationship, and supporting increasing independence. Mentoring agreements can establish the pattern of meetings and the commitment of both parties and define the activities that the relationship encompasses. The latter is particularly important when the mentee has more than one mentor, such as for clinical and research activities. The faculty development program can monitor the fit and sustainability of mentoring relationships with time and evaluate the effect on individual career outcomes. Programs can advocate for support and rewards for the time-intensive mentoring efforts of the senior faculty members.20, 21

Workshops and Lectures 

Workshops and lectures are effective in communicating information with broad applicability and for topics for which peer interactions enhance the learning experience. Examples of such topics include the preparation of curriculum vitae, personal statements, or educational portfolios. Group discussion is helpful when multiple perspectives inform and enrich the conversation, such as leadership opportunities for part-time faculty and cross-generational communication strategies.

Policy Briefings 

The faculty development program can educate on such institutional policies as the timeline and necessary accomplishments for academic advancement. Such education can help structure faculty members’ research, educational, and clinical activities to achieve their goals. Likewise, informing faculty members about part-time tracks and the option to stop the tenure clock (when available) can benefit those individuals needing alternative pathways to manage the balance of work and family responsibilities.29, 30

Feedback and Evaluation 

Formalized mechanisms for providing feedback to faculty members about their progress are of critical importance and value.31, 32 Faculty evaluations are often directly linked to promotion and compensation. Faculty members may identify their strengths and weaknesses for the purpose of being evaluated by a “mentoring committee.” Those responsible for these evaluations should be skilled in providing feedback. Faculty reviews should target the prerequisites of a strong academic career.

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Faculty Needs 

The activities and mechanisms aforementioned must be considered in the context of the career stage and earlier training of the faculty member. Certain faculty needs may be quite obvious (eg, knowledge of institutional routing procedures for grants and contracts, internal review board submission requirements, assessment and provision of feedback to learners); other needs may be less obvious, such as guidance on when and how to say “no” to service requests or how to manage budgets or direct reports.

Skill Development 

Faculty members must continue to refine their teaching skills. Training opportunities at a national level provide faculty the opportunity to network with peers and may be cost-efficient, should local needs for such training be modest. However, travel, housing, and tuition can be expensive. Institutional programs are advantageous because they can serve many faculty members while reducing expenses and creating economies of scale. Although they provide an opportunity to meet local peers, they lack the intimacy and specificity of departmental programs.

Guidance 

Faculty members confront many choices about how to spend their time. They can benefit from exploring their options, receiving guidance on necessary resources, and obtaining feedback on their progress from senior, experienced faculty members. “Pearls” for career development and success may be shared via mentoring, workshops, and feedback sessions.

Interpersonal Growth 

Interpersonal skills enable faculty members to collaborate with others and work in teams. Faculty members should understand the impact of their behavior on others and how to best approach different situations. Executive coaching guides faculty members in improving their interpersonal and leadership skills.33, 34 Although most typically a one-on-one activity, coaching may be successfully provided in workshops or groups. Structured assessments, which provide information on how an individual is seen by others (eg, a 360 evaluation) or on their individual style (eg, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Birkman Method),35, 36 are useful tools to promote personal development. Follow-up support to faculty members is critical to maintain behavioral changes with time.

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Faculty Outcomes 

Faculty development activities may influence a variety of outcomes. Competence is having the requisite skills to do one’s job; needed skills may change with time and with new affiliations or responsibilities. Evidence of career advancement includes election to professional societies and academic promotion. Satisfaction includes job satisfaction and satisfactory balance between professional and personal activities. Lack of satisfaction is associated with seriously considering leaving academic medicine.1 Leadership refers to the ability to successfully guide a team (eg, other faculty members, research collaborators, and coordinators) or to accomplish a task that involves a variety of stakeholders and the assumption of formal leadership positions.

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Challenges 

There are many challenges to implementing a faculty development program. “Buy-in” from institutional administration is needed to ensure the resources (eg, time and space) necessary to conduct the program. Financial support is needed to organize workshops, reward mentoring, and secure external expertise. Departmental leadership must ensure synergy among available faculty resources, job demands, and expectations for advancement. Although attaining this synergy is the responsibility of the institution, the leadership of the faculty development program can help to identify and reconcile incongruities to support faculty success and retention.

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Program Evaluation 

The process and outcomes of faculty development programs should be evaluated. Methods for evaluating programs supporting the advancement of women can be applied to general faculty development.15, 17 Feedback from participants about the program and recommendations for future activities should be solicited. This can be accomplished with a brief evaluation at the end of each activity. The extent to which faculty are participating in the activities is an important process measure. It is equally important to assess why faculty choose not to participate. Mentoring can be assessed by process variables (eg, frequency of meetings), satisfaction of the mentor/mentee, and mentee success. Overall outcomes of the program can include measures of career satisfaction, promotion and retention data, grants and teaching awards, and reputation as enhanced with presentations and publications. Outcomes take years to accrue, necessitating longitudinal monitoring.

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Conclusions 

We propose a framework for faculty development that acknowledges the broad range of faculty activities (clinical care, education and mentoring, research/scholarship, service, and leadership), proposes a series of basic mechanisms, identifies faculty needs, and suggests outcomes to enable evaluation and comparisons across settings. We encourage pediatric chairs to identify a leader and provide them with the time and resources to implement these programs on the basis of department needs. We believe that such action will best enable departments to protect their most valuable resource.

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We acknowledge Stephanie Ramos, MA, for her help in designing faculty development programs at the University of Texas Medical Branch and Dr Robert E. Kelly and New York Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital for the support of the program at Columbia University Medical Center. We also thank Terry Stancin, PhD, Katharine M. Conway, MA, MEd, Larkin Callaghan, MA, and Lisa Simmons, BA, for their review of earlier drafts of this manuscript.

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Figure. 

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References 

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PII: S0022-3476(11)00057-6

doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2011.01.009

The Journal of Pediatrics
Volume 158, Issue 5 , Pages 693-694.e2, May 2011

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