Creating a Cadre of Fellowship-Trained Medical Educators, Part II: A Formal Needs Assessment to Structure Postgraduate Fellowships in Medical Education Scholarship and Leadership.
Education leaders at the 2012 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference on education research proposed that dedicated postgraduate education scholarship fellowships (ESFs) might provide an effective model for developing future faculty as scholars. A formal needs assessment was performed to understand the training gap and inform the development of ESFs.



A mixed-methods needs assessment was conducted of four emergency medicine national stakeholder groups in 2013: department chairs; faculty education/research leaders; existing education fellowship directors; and current education fellows/graduates. Descriptive statistics were reported for quantitative data. Qualitative data from semistructured interviews and free-text responses were analyzed using a thematic approach.



Participants were 11/15 (73%) education fellowship directors, 13/20 (65%) fellows/graduates, 106/239 (44%) faculty education/research leaders, and a convenience sample of 26 department chairs. Department chairs expected new education faculty to design didactics (85%) and teach clinically (96%). Faculty education/research leaders thought new faculty were inadequately prepared for job tasks (83.7%) and that ESFs would improve the overall quality of education research (91.1%). Fellowship directors noted that ESFs provide skills, mentorship, and protected time for graduates to become productive academicians. Current fellows/graduates reported pursing an ESF to develop skills in teaching and research methodology.



Stakeholder groups uniformly perceived a need for training in education theory, clinical teaching, and education research. These findings support dedicated, deliberate training in these areas. Establishment of a structure for scholarly pursuits prior to assuming a full-time position will effectively prepare new faculty. These findings may inform the development, implementation, and curricula of ESFs.
J. Jordan is assistant director, Residency Training Program, Department of Emergency Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and assistant professor of medicine and vice chair, Acute Care College, University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California. L.M. Yarris is associate professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon. S.A. Santen is assistant dean for educational research and quality improvement, University of Michigan Medical School, and professor, Department of Emergency Medicine and Department of Learning Health Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. T.A. Guth is emergency medicine clerkship codirector and associate director for clinical skills in the Foundations of Doctoring course, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado. S. Rougas is assistant professor of emergency medicine, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. D.P. Runde is assistant program director and assistant professor of emergency medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa. W.C. Coates is senior education specialist, Department of Emergency Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and professor of medicine, University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California.
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D000328:Adult; D003479:Curriculum; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000193:education*; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D005257:Fellowships and Scholarships / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D008611:Mentors / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D013192:Staff Development / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States