Building capacity for education research among clinical educators in the health professions: A BEME (Best Evidence Medical Education) Systematic Review of the outcomes of interventions: BEME Guide No. 34

Abstract

Background/purpose: There is a growing desire for health professions educators to generate high-quality education research; yet, few of them encounter the training to do so. In response, health professions faculties have increasingly been devoting resources to provide members with the skills necessary for education research. The form and impact of these efforts have not been reviewed, though such a synthesis could be useful for practice. The objectives of this systematic review were to (1) identify interventions aimed at building capacity for education research among health professions clinical educators and (2) review the outcomes of these interventions.

Methodology: We developed a systematic review protocol based on our pilot scoping search. This protocol underwent peer review and was prospectively registered with the Best Evidence Medical Education Collaboration. Based on this protocol, we conducted a comprehensive search of health professions’ databases and related grey literature. Systematic methods were applied: two independent reviewers completed title screening and full text review for inclusion, data extraction, and methodological quality assessment. Studies were included if they reported outcomes for interventions designed to increase capacity for health professions clinical educators to conduct education research. We conducted a qualitative synthesis of the evidence which included detailed reporting of intervention characteristics and outcomes.

Results: Our search returned 14, 149 results, 241 of which were retained after title and abstract screening, and 30 of which met inclusion criteria after full text review. Seven groups of interventions were identified, the most frequent being teaching scholars programs (n = 10), health professions education fellowships (n = 3) or master’s programs (n = 4). The most commonly measured outcome was change related to enhanced scholarly outputs (grants, papers, abstracts, and presentations) post-intervention. Unfortunately, most of the included studies lacked detailed description of the intervention and were of low to moderate quality with post-test only design.

Discussion/conclusions: This review demonstrates that various interventions can have a positive impact on the ability of health professions clinical educators to conduct education research. We note several key elements of the interventions including: (1) protected time, (2) mentorship and/or collaboration, (3) departmental and institutional commitment and leadership, and (4) financial support. Through our analysis we describe the complexities around evaluating clinical educators’ health professions research activities and the interventions used to promote education research. While improved study quality would allow more detailed understanding and evaluation of these key features, we are able to provide recommendations for potential strategies for improving participation in and quality of health professions education research based on this analysis.

Acknowledgements

The study team would like to sincerely thank Dr. Liam Rourke for his guidance and work in the initial phases of this review. We would like to acknowledge his contributions of the idea to incorporate Research Capacity Building as an underlying conceptual framework for this review, to use the MERSQI as the quality assessment tool for this review, and to use Ogawa and Malen’s (1991) approach to qualitative synthesis. We would also like to acknowledge the University of Alberta Teaching Scholars Program for providing peer support and protected time for Dr. Rabia Ahmed to work on this project and for providing funding for our summer student Ameer Farooq.

Declaration of interest

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

Notes on contributors

RABIA A. AHMED, MD, FRCPC, is an Assistant Professor and consultant in infectious diseases at the University of Alberta. She has recently completed the University of Alberta, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry Teaching Scholars Program.

AMEER FAROOQ, BSc, is a third-year medical student and summer studentship recipient. He has earned a degree with honors in Physiology and Developmental Biology.

DALE STORIE, MLIS, MA, is Public Services Librarian at the John W. Scott Health Sciences Library, University of Alberta, and library liaison to the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and the School of Public Health. In addition to providing searching support for many systematic reviews produced at the University of Alberta, he is also the librarian instructor for a Public Health Sciences course on Systematic Reviews.

LISA HARTLING, MSc, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, is Director of the Alberta Research Centre for Health Evidence and Director of the University of Alberta Evidence-based Practice Center. In this role she oversees approximately 20 staff in the production of systematic reviews, health technology assessments, and methodological research for evidence synthesis. She is a reviewer with The Cochrane Collaboration (Acute Respiratory Infections, Anesthesia, Injury, Wounds, Heart, and Infectious Diseases Groups). She has co-authored more than 30 systematic reviews. She has also co-authored a BEME on Musculoskeletal Clinical Skills, a BEME on Audience Response Systems and a BEME on Team-Based Learning.

ANNA E. OSWALD, BMSc, MD, MMEd, FRCPC, is an Associate Professor, consultant rheumatologist, and course-coordinator for the undergraduate musculoskeletal medicine course for preclinical medical students at the University of Alberta. She has a Masters in Medical Education degree from the University of Dundee. She is a Clinician Educator for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. She has co-authored a systematic review on problem-based learning and has been the team lead for a BEME on musculoskeletal Clinical Skills, a BEME on Audience Response Systems and a BEME on Team-Based Learning. She is the team lead for this review.

Supplementary material

Supplementary material is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/0142159X.2015.1112893.