MAYO CLINIC

Department of Family Practice

Kasson, Minnesota

Team Contact/Coordinator: Dana Swenson-Dravis

E-mail: swensondravis.dana@mayo.edu

Phone: 507/266-0284

Fax: 507/266-0216

Faculty Development Needs to Address at the Models That Work Conference

We hope to identify an effective faculty development model that would fit well within our context of significant clinical practice demands, where research and education is often a small, but very important component of a Mayo Family Physician's life. We would also like to gain exposure to collaborative faculty development efforts among other primary care disciplines, as we have interest in creating an interdisciplinary faculty development program with Mayo Clinic Departments of Pediatrics and Community Internal Medicine.

Preliminary Needs Assessment Plan & Ideas on Addressing Faculty Development Needs

The Mayo Clinic Department of Family Medicine recently established an Academic Development Center to develop faculty, coordinate current residency programs, and promote new initiatives in education, research, community outreach and organizational development. This Center was created with support from a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services (Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professions). The Department of Family Medicine also collaborates with the Departments of Pediatrics and Community Internal Medicine to help address the need for more collaborative scholarship and research across our disciplines. Consequently, we eventually hope to develop and effective interdisciplinary faculty development program to help address this need and ultimately benefit all primary care physicians at the Mayo Clinic.

Needs Assessment

The Family Medicine Academic Development Center conducted a needs assessment of all Family Medicine faculty in the second quarter of 1998. The needs assessment (see attachment) address five basic areas: Instruction; Administration and Decision Making; Professional Academic Skills. Some of the needs assessment results are outlined below:

• The needs assessment revealed a low comfort level among faculty in the area of research. Moreover, the interest level among faculty was also relatively low in comparison to other areas measured. One of the most apparent needs is to balance the demands of clinical practice with the desire of faculty to do research, publications, presentations, and other scholarly activities. Currently, the majority of family medicine faculty is only minimally involved in the department.
• The needs assessment indicated that faculty have a low level of comfort using computers to deliver instruction to medical students and residents. Consequently, they indicated a high interest in learning about medical informatics and the computer as a tool for instruction.
• The needs assessment also revealed a high interest among faculty in developing their professional academic skills. This includes managing an academic career and developing academic values and relationships.

Future Plans

Our next step is to conduct interviews with each faculty member to identify the needs of specific individuals. These interviews will help us to further prioritize the needs of the department. We hope to address these needs by providing support to faculty through one-on-one career development counseling; observation and feedback regarding teaching skills; mentoring on individualized scholarship and research program development; help with obtaining funding; and peer review of manuscripts submitted for publication. We also plan to facilitate group activities that promote faculty development, e.g. departmental seminars and workshops.

Through participation in the Models That Work conference, we hope to identify a faculty development model that fits well within a context of significant clinical practice demands where research and education are seen as a smaller, but very important component of a Mayo Family Physicians life. We would also like to gain exposure to collaborative faculty development efforts in other primary care areas within other academic institutions, due to our interest in creating an interdisciplinary faculty development program with the Mayo Clinic Departments of Pediatrics and Community Internal Medicine.

In summary, we are requesting consultation as a pilot team to help develop the Academic Development Center in the Mayo Department of Family Medicine. This consultation will allow us to further develop faculty development programs for family medicine physicians teaching in the Mayo Medical School, Mayo Graduate School of Medicine Family Medicine Residency Program, and the Department of Family Medicine. We anticipate that this experience will assist us as we collaborate with other primary care areas in our institution to create an interdisciplinary faculty development program.