Rethinking Faculty Development

Abstract

Faculty development efforts within medical education have typically focused on the improvement of instruction. Minimal attention has been paid to personal development of faculty members or to organisational elements such as decision-making or the change process. Little empirical evidence exists about the outcomes of faculty development efforts, and existing studies are not conclusive. This article suggests that by overemphasising teaching, faculty development programs ignore at least three major topics: (1) the broad spectrum of a faculty member's responsibilities, (2) different faculty development needs in various career stages, and (3) needs identified by various clients of faculty development. The authors conclude by describing faculty development as a dynamic process which should involve periodic institutional and faculty assessments to determine faculty development priorities.