Medical teachers' professional development – perceived barriers and opportunities

Abstract

This paper explores medical teachers' perceived barriers and opportunities for educational and professional development. Data has been gathered through 19 semi-structured interviews with participants on a staff development course 1 year after their participation. The analysis shows that most perceived barriers are found on an organisational level, whilst motivation for development is found on an individual level and often related to the notion of teaching as a ‘private business’. However, what some respondents perceive as barriers are by others seen as opportunities. Some of these differences in perception may be explained by self-efficacy beliefs.

Keywords:

• higher education
• medical teacher
• professional development
• educational development
• self-efficacy
• teaching and learning regime

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all medical teachers interviewed in this study. TS-H contextualised the findings, undertook the literature review and wrote the paper. TS-H and MW were both involved in designing the interview guide, carrying out the interviews and analysing the data into themes. LOD and HH provided feedback on all stages of the project and (together with MW) on drafts of the paper.