‘It was serendipity’: a qualitative study of academic careers in medical education

Hu, Wendy; Thistlethwaite, Jill; Weller, Jennifer; Gallego, Gisselle; Monteith, Joseph; McColl, Geoff

doi:10.1111/medu.12822

Cited by 82 publications

(109 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…This resentment towards promotion assessment against a metric that did not relate to teaching quality was also reported by early career medical educators in Australian and New Zealand medical schools [10] and clinicians engaged in an academic careers [12, 13], suggesting a worldwide phenomenon.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…As with any new field of scholarly activity medical education faces multiple challenges such as low levels of funding, lack of recognition and reduced opportunities for career development [10, 13, 15, 35]. The participants mentioned that their efforts are undervalued and under-supported financially in comparison with those working in other areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hu et al, [10] explored the sustainability of academic careers in medical education. They found that universities valued research output over high quality of teaching.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring the tensions of being and becoming a medical educator

et al. 2017

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BackgroundPrevious studies have identified tensions medical faculty encounter in their roles but not specifically those with a qualification in medical education. It is likely that those with postgraduate qualifications may face additional tensions (i.e., internal or external conflicts or concerns) from differentiation by others, greater responsibilities and translational work against the status quo. This study explores the complex and multi-faceted tensions of educators with qualifications in medical education at various stages in their career.MethodsThe data described were collected in 2013–14 as part of a larger, three-phase mixed-methods research study employing a constructivist grounded theory analytic approach to understand identity formation among medical educators. The over-arching theoretical framework for the study was Communities of Practice. Thirty-six educators who had undertaken or were undertaking a postgraduate qualification in medical education took part in semi-structured interviews.ResultsParticipants expressed multiple tensions associated with both becoming and being a healthcare educator. Educational roles had to be juggled with clinical work, challenging their work-life balance. Medical education was regarded as having lower prestige, and therefore pay, than other healthcare career tracks. Medical education is a vast speciality, making it difficult as a generalist to keep up-to-date in all its areas. Interestingly, the graduates with extensive experience in education reported no fears, rather asserting that the qualification gave them job variety.ConclusionThis is the first detailed study exploring the tensions of educators with postgraduate qualifications in medical education. It complements and extends the findings of the previous studies by identifying tensions common as well as specific to active students and graduates. These tensions may lead to detachment, cynicism and a weak sense of identity among healthcare educators. Postgraduate programmes in medical education can help their students identify these tensions in becoming and develop coping strategies. Separate career routes, specific job descriptions and academic workload models for medical educators are recommended to further the professionalisation of medical education.(Tensions, Fears, Healthcare Educators, Medical Education, Postgraduate Programmes, Identity, Career Choice, Faculty Development, Communities of Practice).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring the tensions of being and becoming a medical educator

et al. 2017

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“…This mirrors findings in medical education, where medical educators have been argued to have less cultural capital in relation to their clinical research colleagues (citing less respect and financial support); referring to medical education as the 'Cinderella discipline'. 27 Similarly, research by Albert and colleagues 28 identified that the majority of biomedical health researchers exhibited a predominantly negative posture toward social science researchers, where education research arguably fits. 29 Methodological challenges and strengths Unfortunately, inclusion of the patient voice in our study was limited.…”

Section: Summary Of Key Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing a national dental education research strategy: priorities, barriers and enablers

et al. 2017

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ObjectivesThis study aimed to identify national dental education research (DER) priorities for the next 3–5 years and to identify barriers and enablers to DER.SettingScotland.ParticipantsIn this two-stage online questionnaire study, we collected data with multiple dental professions (eg, dentistry, dental nursing and dental hygiene) and stakeholder groups (eg, learners, clinicians, educators, managers, researchers and academics). Eighty-five participants completed the Stage 1 qualitative questionnaire and 649 participants the Stage 2 quantitative questionnaire.ResultsEight themes were identified at Stage 1. Of the 24 DER priorities identified, the top three were: role of assessments in identifying competence; undergraduate curriculum prepares for practice and promoting teamwork. Following exploratory factor analysis, the 24 items loaded onto four factors: teamwork and professionalism, measuring and enhancing performance, dental workforce issues and curriculum integration and innovation. Barriers and enablers existed at multiple levels: individual, interpersonal, institutional structures and cultures and technology.ConclusionsThis priority setting exercise provides a necessary first step to developing a national DER strategy capturing multiple perspectives. Promoting DER requires improved resourcing alongside efforts to overcome peer stigma and lack of valuing and motivation.

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“…Experienced GPs and their ability to formulate management plans in response to a myriad of conflicting problems and contextual factors is invaluable given that clinical guidelines are usually acontextual, relate to single conditions and can have contradictory recommendations, 9 thereby creating difficulty for trainees who need to learn to manage the undifferentiated, multimorbid and complex presentations that characterise much of general practice care. 8,10 Supervisors are not (yet) easily replaced by electronic information sources at the point of care, but understanding the different genres within these ad hoc learning encounters and learning how to adapt to the genre at play, will ensure that we do not miss the boat in providing maximal learning and ultimately better health care for the patients whom we serve. The struggle to support the transition to medical educator…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%