Exploring perceptions of the transition from health science practitioner to academic

ABSTRACT

Transitioning from a clinical practitioner to a clinical faculty member in higher education can be a difficult process for many health care professionals. Clinically, health care professionals have attained a high level of expertise, however this does not necessarily prepare them to teach in a classroom despite the importance of translating clinical experiences to classroom settings in order to optimise student learning. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine clinical faculty’s preparedness during their transition to academia and their perceptions of the level of support during the first five years of teaching. Interviews were collected from eight clinical faculty members at Wayne State University. Interviews were coded based on perceptive categories such as experiences, knowledge, and opinions. The results revealed four areas for which study participants needed additional support: peer mentoring, administration support, institutional support, and interaction with students. These findings may provide insight to deans, department chairs, and other university administrators at Wayne State and beyond regarding strategies to provide more effective professional development to new clinical faculty entering higher education from clinical practice. Potential implications for positive social change include increased job satisfaction and retention for professionals who become health science educators.

KEYWORDS:

• Mentoring
• instructional methodology
• educational theory
• clinical practitioner
• novice
• clinical faculty

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This study has been approved by the IRB Board of Wayne State University: 051718B3E. There are no funding sources for this study

Notes on contributors

MaryAnne Stewart

MaryAnne Stewart, EdD, MLS (CSMLS), is an assistant professor in the Clinical Laboratory Science program at Wayne State University. She is involved in developing faculty success initiatives within her department as well as at the university level through an academic leadership fellowship.