Providing successful faculty development to graduate medical education program directors

Graduate Medical Education (GME) is the portion of the medical education continuum that spans the period following graduation from medical school to independent practice. In the United States, successful completion of GME is essential for board certification in one of over 140 recognized specialties. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) is the accreditor for over 10,000 programs. Each program is required to have a single physician program director responsible for the program’s administrative and educational oversight. Virtually all program directors remain clinically and academically productive. Over the last 17 years, the ACGME has transitioned its accreditation emphasis to promote competency based education. Furthermore, the ACGME requires programs to provide faculty development in teaching and assessment for their faculty and to evaluate the program's performance in providing it annually.1 Some program directors, selected for their interest in teaching and advocacy for residents, have never been formally trained as educators or as educational leaders.2 Previous studies have reported that program directors feel poorly prepared to meet their educational and accreditation challenges. Among their top concerns are a lack of expertise in curriculum development and evaluation, and a lack of understanding of ACGME competencies and their assessment.3 Furthermore, faculty attrition has been linked to inadequate faculty development.4 In response, many program directors turn to external sources of professional development outside of their individual programs.5 Hafler and colleagues highlight the importance of faculty development efforts in providing knowledge and skills while facilitating a supportive community in which continual improvement of teaching and assessment becomes the norm.6 We used situational learning theory and best practices from communities of practice, to develop implement, and evaluate an institutional faculty development program for over 100 GME program directors of both ACGME accredited and internally sponsored programs. The purpose of this Perspective is to present our eight-year experience.