Exploring Faculty Development Needs for Community-Based Preceptors in Medicine

Sponsorship Type: Non-Funded
Research Type: Human Subjects
Impact:  National

Community-based preceptors require faculty development because of the large role they play in training medical students. College of Medicine faculty Ms. Suzanne Baker, Dr. Suzanne Harrison, and emeritus faculty Dr. Dennis Baker collaborated with family medicine and faculty development colleagues from multiple universities including Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University and University of South Carolina to examine aspects of faculty development programs nationwide.

The team proposed a subset of new survey questions to the 2015 Council of Academic Family Medicine’s Educational Research Alliance (CERA) survey given to family medicine clerkship directors and analyzed the responses. The goal was to gain a better understanding of the quantity, delivery methods, barriers, and institutional support for faculty development provided to preceptors.

Findings, published in Academic Medicine , demonstrate providing payment to community preceptors may allow schools to enhance faculty development activities and their effectiveness. Medical schools could benefit from constructing a formal faculty development curriculum, including a preceptor needs assessment and ongoing program evaluation. The results suggest that clerkship directors should consider employing innovative faculty development delivery methods in order to recruit and retain community-based preceptors.

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   Ms. Suzanne Baker