Faculty development in the age of competency-based medical education: A needs assessment of Canadian emergency medicine faculty and senior trainees

Abstract

ObjectivesThe Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) emergency medicine (EM) programs transitioned to the Competence by Design training framework in July 2018. Prior to this transition, a nation-wide survey was conducted to gain a better understanding of EM faculty and senior resident attitudes towards the implementation of this new program of assessment.MethodsA multi-site, cross-sectional needs assessment survey was conducted. We aimed to document perceptions about competency-based medical education, attitudes towards implementation, perceived/prompted/unperceived faculty development needs. EM faculty and senior residents were nominated by program directors across RCPSC EM programs. Simple descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data.ResultsBetween February and April 2018, 47 participants completed the survey (58.8% response rate). Most respondents (89.4%) thought learners should receive feedback during every shift; 55.3% felt that they provided adequate feedback. Many respondents (78.7%) felt that the ED would allow for direct observation, and most (91.5%) participants were confident that they could incorporate workplace-based assessments (WBAs). Although a fair number of respondents (44.7%) felt that Competence by Design would not impact patient care, some (17.0%) were worried that it may negatively impact it. Perceived faculty development priorities included feedback delivery, completing WBAs, and resident promotion decisions.ConclusionsRCPSC EM faculty have positive attitudes towards competency-based medical education-relevant concepts such as feedback and opportunities for direct observation via WBAs. Perceived threats to Competence by Design implementation included concerns that patient care and trainee education might be negatively impacted. Faculty development should concentrate on further developing supervisors’ teaching skills, focusing on feedback using WBAs.

Faculty‐lead Opinions on Workplace‐based Methods for Graduated Managerial Teaching (FLOW MGMT): A National Cross‐sectional Survey of Canadian Emergency Medicine Lead Educators

“…This early timing may mean that many participants do not yet have a good mental model for when a particular teaching technique will best fit into the Competence by Design levels. As stated in previous work, 10 substantive amounts of faculty development are likely still needed for teachers across the country to be comfortable with the new system. We had attempted to gather a cross-section of educators across the country to ensure there was some generalizability to our findings, but due to the low number of respondents this meant that we were only harnessing the ideas from one or two individuals per site.…”

“…Inevitably, as the Canadian residency education landscape shifts to a focus on trainee competencies, new approaches and instructional methods will need to accompany these new EPAs 9. Curricular changes and faculty development will naturally accompany the shift to CBME 10,11. However, before curricular changes can be made, we must conduct the research necessary to best inform changes to our educational practice.…”

“…9 Curricular changes and faculty development will naturally accompany the shift to CBME. 10,11 However, before curricular changes can be made, we must conduct the research necessary to best inform changes to our educational practice.…”

Redesigning continuing professional development: Harnessing design thinking to go from needs assessment to mandate

“…Academically, new and existing faculty members are constantly being asked to do more with less. New faculty members (especially community faculty) can often find it difficult to establish their identity as teachers, scholars, and academics without proper support [11,12], especially when they must learn new approaches such as competencybased medical education [13,14].…”

The Power of Peers: Faculty Development for Medical Educators of the Future

“…The faculty development literature is replete with guidance on strategies to enhance faculty skills ranging from competency-based medical education 4 and entrustable professional activities 5 to interprofessional education facilitation 6 and mentorship of women. 7 Good clinician role models have always existed.…”