UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA*

Ontario, Canada

Team Contact/Coordinator: Meridith Marks, M.D.

E-Mail: mmarks@rohcg.on.ca

Phone: 613-737-7350 ext 5595

Fax: 613-737-9638

Faculty Development Needs to Address at The Models That Work Conference

Implement and evaluate a program to support medical educators in their efforts to publish in peer reviewed journals

Preliminary Needs Assessment

The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa has supported the development of a group of young medical educators over the past six years. An eight month Systematic Educational Planning course has been complete by 32 faculty members, while 20 faculty have pursued Master's level studies in medical education. This group of young academic physicians have implemented a number of educational innovations an some have pursued medical education research.

The academic productivity of the Ottawa group, when measured in terms of publications, has been limited. The young medical educators affected have indicated that although they are committed to the process of publishing their work, they do not feel they have the skills required to be successful writers. They are in the early stages of their careers with limited experience in publishing a research. Although the group has developed peer support networks, there is a relative lack of local mentors.

As members of the medical educator group in Ottawa, we perceived the frustrations people were experiencing in attempting to publish their work. A focus group meeting with colleagues confirmed that others felt the need for more direction and guidance in writing and making their work publishable. The participants in the focus group indicated they felt confident in developing an educational program or intervention based on learners needs. However, particular areas of weakness encompassed the steps between implementation of an educational program and publishing the results. A recent program review of the Systematic Educational Planning course also confirmed that clinical educators who have completed the course feel a need to gain additional expertise in bringing their work to publication.

We have been working on a faculty development initiative to assist medical educators in publishing their work, particularly as it relates to innovations in medical education. The overall goal of our program is similar to your "pilot team program" in that one of the outcomes is to publish the results of educational innovations. The target group of our intervention is academic medical educators, including clinical educators. The two programs differ significantly in the expertise available to them. Our program is trying to compensate for the lack of mentors in medical education at our University while your program is designed specifically to provide participants with input from experts in the field.

We feel your program and our project complement each other very well. The expertise that you can provide in guiding us will be critical to the success of our project. Not only will we personally gain new knowledge and skills, but the participants in our local program will also benefit from your input. The direction you provide in making our project publishable will directly influence the program we develop for our local faculty. In effect, you can assist us in developing publishing skills which we can then share with others.

Faculty Development is in its infancy at The University of Ottawa. Like most of the medical educators at our university, we are in the early stages of our academic careers. We are open to new ideas and would certainly benefit from the experience and guidance your group has to offer. In return we bring you the perspective of a young faculty who are committed to medical education but who lack direction in the development of their careers.

Addressing Faculty Development Needs

We have been successful in obtaining a Faculty Development Innovations Grant from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, with matching funds from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, to develop a self-instructional workbook. The workbook, entitled "Get It Published," will be used by faculty to guide them though the process of writing for publication in a medical education peer-reviewed journal. The grant funds have allowed us to consult with leaders in medical education who have expertise in publishing. Drs. Geoff Norman, Glenn Regher, and George Bordages have visited Ottawa to meet with the Medical Education Interest Group and to review our work. Their input has allowed us to focus the content of the workbook and to better understand the publishing process. The ultimate goal is to have a workbook which medical educators can use independently to direct their work. The peer support and feedback available from a group would likely complement and enhance the effectiveness of the workbook.

It is anticipated that the workbook will be available for preliminary use in the next 6-8 months. Possibly the workbook could be introduced with various levels of support being available to participants. Groups might consist of those working independently, in small writing groups of 3-4 individuals, or in small groups with guidance from an experienced writer. Such variation would allow some determination of the benefits of the workbook, peer support and mentors in writing for publication.

*Technical assistance for any site outside the United States cannot be supported by the federal funds directing this project. However, since ratings by the pilot site selection committee for the University of Ottawa were commendable, this team will receive technical assistance as part of the outreach efforts supported by the University of Minnesota.