An inverted virtual faculty development program for remote teaching: pilot for replication

Background: Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, all the universities worldwide are experiencing a paradigm shift to online learning. Baby boomers and Generation X need to cope with the challenging transformation, so an emerging need for a faculty development program was needed towards achieving the goal of that transformation. Objectives: To describe and assess an inverted virtual faculty development program (VFDP) that was designed and implemented for the first time in the school to equip educators with the necessary technology competencies for remote online learning. Methods: An interventional prospective study held in a university setting post need analysis conduction to prioritize the required technological skills for faculty members. The program was designed to integrate five essential skills needed to by faculty members to teach remotely. The intervention comprised attending five virtual sessions after watching a pre-distributed material, then evaluated using the Kirkpatrick model.Results: Almost 81% of faculty members completed the program and 80 % of participants were satisfied with the content of the program. There was a statistically significant difference between the perceived ability of the participants to share and record video lectures before and after the VFDP (p value <0.001). The percentage of the departments that applied the program components showed that 96% of them were able to record lectures. In addition, 80% of them were able to develop online quizzes. Conclusion: The inverted virtual faculty development program (VFDP) has supported the participating faculty in developing their needed technological competencies required to bridge the gap of remote teaching/learning

Meeting report: ‘How do I incorporate research into my family practice?’: Reflections on experiences of and solutions for young family doctors

Background: Family doctors (FDs) focus on biopsychosocial components of health during consultations. However, much of the evidence employed by these doctors is produced by researchers who are not routinely involved in family practice. Family doctors competent in both clinical practice and research are essential to addressing this gap. With the growing recognition of family medicine as the specialty of choice for many young doctors, there is a scarcity of literature that describes their experiences in combining research and daily family practice. Aim: Members from Young Doctor Movements (YDMs) under the auspices of the World Organisation of Family Doctors (WONCA) sought to address this knowledge gap by reflecting on their experiences towards becoming researchers. With the assistance of senior doctors, they explored solutions that can help young FDs incorporate research into their family practice. Methods: Following an online YDM meeting, a summary of the experiences of young FDs as well as strategies useful for incorporating research into their everyday practice as FDs was prepared. Result: Nine thematic areas were derived, including experiences and motivation towards regular research, culture and environment of practice, relevance and gains of research, teamwork and mentorship. Conclusion: Family practices can incorporate research by promoting a personal and organisational research culture, highlighting gains and relevance of making it part of the profession and fostering teamwork, supportive networks and mentorship while making it enjoyable

A guide to best practice in faculty development for health professions schools: a qualitative analysis

BACKGROUND: This is a practice guide for the evaluation tool specifically created to objectively evaluate longitudinal faculty development programs (FDP) using the “5×2 -D backward planning faculty development model”. It was necessary to create this tool as existing evaluation methods are designed to evaluate linear faculty development models with a specific endpoint. This backward planning approach is a cyclical model without an endpoint, consisting of 5 dynamic steps that are flexible and interchangeable, therefore can be a base for an evaluation tool that is objective and takes into account all the domains of the FDP in contrast to the existing, traditional, linear evaluation tools which focus on individual aspects of the program. The developed tool will target evaluation of longitudinal faculty development programs regardless of how they were planned. METHODOLOGY: Deductive qualitative grounded theory approach was used. Evaluation questions were generated and tailored based on the 5 × 2-D model followed by 2 Delphi rounds to finalize them. Based on the finalized evaluation questions from the results of the Delphi rounds, two online focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted to deduce the indicators, data sources and data collection method. RESULTS: Based on the suggested additions, the authors added 1 new question to domains B, with a total of 42 modifications, such as wording changes or discarding or merging questions. Some domains received no comments, therefore, were not included in round 2. For each evaluation question, authors generated indicators, data sources and data collection methods during the FGD. CONCLUSION: The methodology used to develop this tool takes into account expert opinions. Comprehensiveness of this tool makes it an ideal evaluation tool during self-evaluation or external quality assurance for longitudinal FDP. After its validation and testing, this practice guide can be used worldwide, along with the provided indicators which can be quantified and used to suit the local context. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-022-03208-x

Meeting report: ‘How do I incorporate research into my family practice?’: Reflections on experiences of and solutions for young family doctors

Background: Family doctors (FDs) focus on biopsychosocial components of health during consultations. However, much of the evidence employed by these doctors is produced by researchers who are not routinely involved in family practice. Family doctors competent in both clinical practice and research are essential to addressing this gap. With the growing recognition of family medicine as the specialty of choice for many young doctors, there is a scarcity of literature that describes their experiences in combining research and daily family practice. Aim: Members from Young Doctor Movements (YDMs) under the auspices of the World Organisation of Family Doctors (WONCA) sought to address this knowledge gap by reflecting on their experiences towards becoming researchers. With the assistance of senior doctors, they explored solutions that can help young FDs incorporate research into their family practice. Methods: Following an online YDM meeting, a summary of the experiences of young FDs as well as strategies useful for incorporating research into their everyday practice as FDs was prepared. Result: Nine thematic areas were derived, including experiences and motivation towards regular research, culture and environment of practice, relevance and gains of research, teamwork and mentorship. Conclusion: Family practices can incorporate research by promoting a personal and organisational research culture, highlighting gains and relevance of making it part of the profession and fostering teamwork, supportive networks and mentorship while making it enjoyable

Learning outcomes and participants’ attitude towards the course instructor and module content (post-course survey).

Learning outcomes and participants’ attitude towards the course instructor and module content (post-course survey).</p

Pre-course survey responses to practice and COVID-19 questions.

Pre-course survey responses to practice and COVID-19 questions.</p

Interaction between feedback “implementation the learning outcome of the course on dental practice on Likert scale” and general attitude of post-course questionnaire respondents (post-course survey).

Interaction between feedback “implementation the learning outcome of the course on dental practice on Likert scale” and general attitude of post-course questionnaire respondents (post-course survey).</p

Participant preference for the online course (post-course survey).

Participant preference for the online course (post-course survey).</p

Demographic characteristics of the respondents (pre-course survey).

Demographic characteristics of the respondents (pre-course survey).</p