A national clinician–educator program: a model of an effective community of practice

Background: The increasing complexity of medical training often requires faculty members with educational expertise to address issues of curriculum design, instructional methods, assessment, program evaluation, faculty development, and educational scholarship, among others. Discussion: In 2007, The Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada responded to this need by establishing the first national clinician–educator program. We define a clinician–educator and describe the development of the program. Adopting a construct from the business community, we use a community of practice framework to describe the benefits (with examples) of this program and challenges in developing it. The benefits of the clinician–educator program include: improved educational problem solving, recognition of educational needs and development of new projects, enhanced personal educational expertise, maintenance of professional satisfaction and retention of group members, a positive influence within the Royal College, and a positive influence within other Canadian academic institutions. Summary: Our described experience of a social reorganization – a community of practice – suggests that the organizational and educational benefits of a national clinician–educator program are not theoretical, but real

Firm Metrics with Continuous R&D, Quality Improvement, and Cournot Quantities

Dynamic R&D, Quality improvement, Intra-industry trade, F12, O38, H25,

Age difference and face-saving in an inter-generational problem based learning group

This study used Grounded Theory methodology to investigate whether learning in a Problem Based Learning (PBL) group was influenced by student demographic diversity. Data comprised observations, in the form of video footage, of one first year PBL group carried out over the period of an academic year, along with student interviews. Using the concepts of ‘Face’ and Face-Threatening Acts to critically explore student interactions, it appeared that inter-generational issues could reflect and create positions of power. At interview, all individuals constructed themselves as similar to or different from others in the group first and foremost by age suggesting this is a primary concern for students. The data also highlighted many occasions, linked to generational difference, where students failed to share knowledge and experiences or to engage critically in deep exploratory learning. This finding is not reported in the PBL literature