Defining new roles and competencies for administrative staff and faculty in the age of competency-based medical education

Abstract

Purpose

These authors sought to define the new roles and competencies required of administrative staff and faculty in the age of CBME.

Method

A modified Delphi process was used to define the new CBME roles and competencies needed by faculty and administrative staff. We invited international experts in CBME (volunteers from the ICBME Collaborative email list), as well as faculty members and trainees identified via social media to help us determine the new competencies required of faculty and administrative staff in the CBME era.

Results

Thirteen new roles were identified. The faculty-specific roles were: National Leader/Facilitator in CBME; Institutional/University lead for CBME; Assessment Process & Systems Designer; Local CBME Leads; CBME-specific Faculty Developers or Trainers; Competence Committee Chair; Competence Committee Faculty Member; Faculty Academic Coach/Advisor or Support Person; Frontline Assessor; Frontline Coach. The staff-specific roles were: Information Technology Lead; CBME Analytics/Data Support; Competence Committee Administrative Assistant.

Conclusions

The authors present a new set of faculty and staff roles that are relevant to the CBME context. While some of these new roles may be incorporated into existing roles, it may be prudent to examine how best to ensure that all of them are supported within all CBME contexts in some manner.

Keywords:

• Competency-based medical education
• competence by design
• faculty development
• modified Delphi

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank our participants for their tireless efforts in helping us to complete this study during a global pandemic.

Ethics statement

This study has received approval from the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board (file #10613).

Author contributions (based on ICMJE criteria)

All authors substantively contributed their intellectual property and original thoughts to this commentary. All authors worked on editing this manuscript and will have final approval of the final version.

Disclosure statement

TMC reports that she has previously received salary, grants, and stipends to study, plan and contribute to competency-based medical education at McMaster University. YY is the recipient of the TUBITAK Postdoctoral Fellowship grant. MKC reports that she has received grants and salary to study and contribute to CBME at the University of Manitoba. DR, AA, and LS all report being clinician-educators MKC, DR, AA, LS, TMC are all members of the International Competency-Based Medical Education (ICBME) Collaborators.

Glossary

Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME): An outcomes-based approach to the design, implementation, assessment, and evaluation of medical education programs, using an organizing framework of competencies.

Frank JR, Snell LS, Cate OT, Holmboe ES, Carraccio C, Swing SR, Harris P, Glasgow NJ, Campbell C, Dath D, et al. Competency-based medical education: theory to practice. Med Teach. 2010;32(8):638–45. doi: 10.3109/0142159X.2010.501190.

Competence by Design (CBD): Canada’s model for competency-based medical education (https://www.royalcollege.ca/rcsite/cbd/competence-by-design-cbd-e).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yusuf Yilmaz

Yusuf Yilmaz, PhD, is postdoctoral fellow at McMaster Education Research, Innovation, and Theory (MERIT), and Office of Continuing Professional Development Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is also researcher-instructor in the Department of Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey.

Ming-Ka Chan

Ming-Ka Chan, MD, MHPE, is associate professor, Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, co-director, Office of Leadership Education, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, and lead, Equity Diversity Inclusivity and Social Justice, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She is director, Max Rady College of Medicine, Shantou University Medical College Exchange, Shantou, China.

Denyse Richardson

Denyse Richardson, MD, MEd, is associate professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Physiatry, and faculty, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is clinician educator, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Adelle Atkinson

Adelle Atkinson, MD, is professor of pediatrics and associate chair, Department of Pediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is clinician educator, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She is clinical immunologist, Division of Immunology and Allergy, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Ereny Bassilious

Ereny Bassilious, MD, MHPE, is associate professor and associate chair education, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She is also pediatric endocrinologist, McMaster Children’s Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Linda Snell

Linda Snell, MD, is professor, Medicine and Health Sciences Education, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Teresa M. Chan

Teresa M. Chan, MD, MHPE, is associate dean, Continuing Professional Development, Faculty of Health Sciences, associate professor, Divisions of Education & Innovation and Emergency Medicine, Department of Medicine, and clinician scientist, MERIT, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She is also an emergency physician at Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation.