We live in a momentous time, and the future calls for new paths and fundamental changes in medical education. The structure of medical schools has been influenced by an exponential increase in medical knowledge and changes in healthcare delivery, doctor availability and workload, patient expectations, and the needs and requirements related to students. To keep pace with changes, quality improvement and innovations in medical education are now being addressed by many important global associations and organizations, among them the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME), the Institute for International Medical Education (IIME), the American Medical Association (AMA), the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE), the Canadian Association for Medical Education (CAME), the Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME), the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the Australian Medical Association (AMA), and the Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference (APMEC). It is clear that a new vision is needed to address the challenges of medical education.
There is also a need for a new model to shape the minds and hearts of future healthcare professionals. This requires adoption of new curricula, novel pedagogies, and innovative forms of assessment, and, of course, even well-developed faculty members, since those individuals represent one of the most important assets of an academic institution.
To understand the importance of faculty members and their role in medical education, it is helpful to consider the relevant context. In general, medical education comprises three main components:
- A curriculum
- An educational environment
- Teachers/Faculty member
The curriculum concerns what is learned, how it is learned, how it is assessed, and how learning is structured. The teachers produce the course documentation in a process that includes discussing and learning together with other faculty members—a community of practice. The educational environment or climate has also been highlighted as a key aspect in this context 2-4, and both students and teachers are aware of that aspect of their university. Is the teaching and learning environment very competitive? Is the atmosphere in classes relaxed or in some ways stressful? These are all key questions in determining the nature of the learning experience 4. The importance of the environment should not be underestimated, and the interest in studying learning environments in health professions such as medicine has increased in recent years. One reason for that may be the growing diversity of both the student population and the student requirements.
Faculty members constitute the third major component of medical education, not only due to their direct influence on the teaching and learning process, but also because they play an important role in shaping the other two components (i.e., curriculum and environment).
Each of these three components has an important function in medical education, and, in combination, they can affect student achievements as well as the quality of the instruction provided, and hence they are also associated with the issue of patient safety.
Responsibilities of Medical University towards faculty members:
Medical Universities have obligations towards the faculty members, and those responsibilities can be divided into six categories:
- Recruitment
- Retainment
- Re-energization
- Recognition
- Rewards
- Respect
If a medical college is to succeed, it has to accept these responsibilities. The crucial role of faculty development activities and initiatives implemented at medical schools is clearly illustrated by this alarming statement made by Professor Ronald M. Harden 5:
“There is no such thing as curriculum development, only staff development.”
Thus faculty development is essential for ensuring and better addressing the obligations that medical schools have towards their faculties. Unfortunately, planning and introducing a faculty development program is not an easy task
