Preparing teachers for competency-based medical education: Fundamental teaching activities

Abstract

Introduction: The move to competency-based medical education has created new challenges for medical teachers, including the need to reflect on and further develop their own competencies as teachers. Guidance is needed to ensure comprehensive and coherent programs of faculty development to meet the needs of teachers.

Methods: The Working Group on Faculty Development of the College of Family Physicians of Canada developed a new concept, Fundamental Teaching Activities (FTAs), to describe the day-to-day work of teachers. These activities are intended to guide teacher professional development. Using task analysis and iterative reviews with teachers and educational leaders, these FTAs were organized into a framework for teachers to identify the actions involved in various teaching tasks, and to reflect on their teaching performance and next steps in personal development.

Results: In addition to use by teachers for personal development, the framework is being employed to guide the development of comprehensive faculty development offerings and curriculum, and to organize the beginnings of a national repository of teaching tools.

Conclusions: Designed to support and aid teachers and those charged with faculty development, the Fundamental Teaching Activities Framework holds promise for all teachers in health sciences education.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the College of Family Physicians of Canada and its Section of Teachers Council and staff for their support and encouragement in the development of this tool.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Glossary

Entrustable Professional Activity: EPAs are units of professional practice, defined as tasks or responsibilities to be entrusted to the unsupervised execution by a trainee once he or she has attained sufficient specific competence. EPAs are independently executable, observable, and measurable in their process and outcome, and therefore, suitable for entrustment decisions.

ten Cate O. 2013. Nuts and bolts of entrustable professional activities. J Grad Med Educ. 5(1):157–158.

Notes on contributors

Allyn Walsh, MD, CCFP, FCFP, Professor, Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University, Canada.

Sudha Koppula, MD, MClSc, CCFP, FCFP, Faculty Development Director, Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta Canada.

Viola Antao, MD, CCFP, CCFP, MHSc, FCFP, Associate Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine University of Toronto, Canada.

Cheri Bethune, MD, FCFP, Clinical Professor, Memorial University, Canada.

Stewart Cameron, MD, FCFP, MAEd. Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Dalhousie University, Canada.

Teresa Cavett, BSc, MD, CCFP, FCFP, Med Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Manitoba, Canada.

Diane Clavet, MD, CCMF, MA, Vice-doyenne au développement pédagogique et professionnel, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada.

Marion Dove, MD, CCFP, FCPC, Associate Professor of Family Medicine, Director of Post-Graduate (Residency) Program, Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, Canada.