Faculty Development Program

What follows is an outline of the program intended to prepare California Northstate University College of Medicine faculty members (both in-house and community-based) for their academic roles and to improve their skills in the areas of teaching and learning, assessing students, research and administration.

Each of the following faculty development sessions is structured to last approximately two hours. Meetings will be held approximately three times per month and in most cases will also be associated with a workshop.

Planned Program of Faculty Development at CNUCOM
Introduction Session: What is “Faculty Development”?

A. Program on teaching, learning and assessing

Teaching

  1. Curriculum development (organizing the learning program)
  2. Curriculum mapping: what, how, when and where is something taught and how is learning assessed
  3. Understanding basic educational principles
  4. The changing role of the teacher
  5. The toolkit of the Teacher
  6. What is a “good teacher” - Maximizing effectiveness of teaching: a balance between “what is said” and “how it is said”
  7. How to be an enthusiastic teacher
  8. Passive teaching vs. Active learning
  9. Creating a positive learning environment
  10. Is there a role for the traditional lecture? - How to prepare an effective lecture
  11. Communication Skills
    a) How to deliver an effective oral presentation
    b) How to improve the oral presentation
  12. How to make PowerPoint slides
  13. Applying the principles of “adult” education
  14. Workshop on adult learning and effective teaching
  15. Inter-professional and inter-disciplinary education
  16. Teaching at the bedside
  17. Teaching in the OR Community-Based Education
  18. Preparing for teaching medical students in the community
  19. Teaching skills and organizational techniques for office-based teaching
  20. Case-Based Learning (CBL) in the office setting
  21. Ways to be more efficient when teaching
  22. Learner feedback and evaluation
  23. Preceptor evaluation and teaching improvement

Learning:

  1. Active learning strategies
  2. Bridging learning research and teaching practice - Appropriate use of audience learning psychology in teaching medical students
  3. Learning outcomes and outcome-based education - Guidelines for writing good learning outcome statements
  4. Teaching and learning in the clinical context - Building learning around problems and clinical presentations
  5. Learning vs. mastery: Promoting understanding and facilitating long-term retention
  6. Learning in small groups (an effective learning tool in medical education)
  7. How to implement “independent learning” (promoting self-directed learning)
  8. The Medical Skills Center and simulation of the clinical experience
  9. How to utilize e-learning in medical education
  10. Collaborative and peer-assisted learning: How effective is it?
  11. Team Based Learning (TBL)
  12. Problem Based Learning (PBL)
  13. The flipped classroom
  14. Dealing with challenging learners
  15. Development of clinical reasoning
  16. Learning through research

Assessing:

  1. Understanding basic concepts and approaches to assessing
  2. Understanding the terms and processes used in evaluations
  3. Identifying high risk students
  4. Choosing and implementing assessment methods in medical education
  5. Progress testing: A holistic vision in the acquisition of the final objectives of the overall medical curriculum
  6. Written vs. Computer-based assessment: Is one better than the other?
  7. A guide to successfully writing Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ)
  8. Strategies for writing good audience response questions
  9. Principles of evaluating educational courses
  10. Curriculum evaluation: A step towards quality improvement
  11. Measuring outcomes and ensuring success
  12. Clinical and performance-based assessment: Theory and practice Descriptive evaluations during clinical clerkships (narratives)
  13. The use of direct observation in the assessment of student clinical skills
  14. Evaluating medical procedures
  15. The use of simulators in the process of assessment
  16. Standardized Patient-based assessments of clinical skills
  17. Evaluating professionalism

B. Programs designed to support faculty as they develop research, scholarship and creative activities

The Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs and Assessment, together with the Senior Associate Deans (Medical Education and Clinical Medicine) and the Assistant Dean of Research have developed a comprehensive research-related faculty development program which will be mandatory for all full-time and part-time faculty members.

  1. 1) Choosing a title and preparing an abstract for a scientific meeting
  2. Writing the “Introduction” to a manuscript
  3. Writing the “Methods” section of a scientific paper
  4. Presenting “Results”: Data vs. information
  5. How to report statistics in peer reviewed publications
  6. Presenting “Tables” and “Figures”
  7. Writing a “Discussion” sectio
  8. Authorship
  9. How to prepare and present a poster at a scientific meeting
  10. Roles and functions of an IRB
  11. Applications of MS Excel
  12. Evidence based medicine (EBM) and practice

C. Programs to assist faculty with Career Planning, Retention and Promotion

  1. Mentorship – do I need a mentor and what can I expect
  2. Preparing for promotion
  3. The search for self-control
  4. Gaining control of stress

Funding for the Faculty Development Program

The faculty development program is fully funded by the College of Medicine and will also involve presenters and consultant-experts who have established successful faculty development programs at other medical schools.