How does a mid-career faculty development program in academic medicine impact faculty and institutional vitality?

BACKGROUND: Faculty vitality is integral to the endurance of higher education. Strengthening vitality is particularly important for mid-career faculty, who represent the largest and most productive segment, but also the most dissatisfied. While the mid-career phase is particularly vulnerable, the backdrop of academic medicine appears to be another factor that may put faculty at risk of attrition. To address these issues, Boston University School of Medicine initiated the Academy for Collaborative Innovation and Transformation (ACIT), a ten-month mid-career faculty development program consisting of six two-day interactive learning modules and multidisciplinary group projects. METHODS: This study is a mixed-methods evaluation of ACIT using a quasi-experimental design to assess the program's impact on faculty and institutional vitality. Pre-post surveys compared participants with a matched reference group. The quantitative data were augmented by interviews and focus groups with participants, senior leadership, department chairs, and ACIT staff members. RESULTS: At the program's conclusion, ACIT participants showed marked gains in knowledge, skills, attitudes, and connectivity when compared to the referents. Results also indicate that the program was largely successful in equipping participants to accomplish the four primary learning goals: to self-reflect and pursue an individual development plan; to connect longitudinally to one's peer cohort and to the larger organization; to collaborate effectively with colleagues across disciplines, sectors, and roles; and to enhance ability to implement transformative work. Lastly, the majority of didactic sessions were rated highly for both content areas and speakers, while the group projects and learning communities received mixed reviews. Based upon these results, recommendations were made to improve the design, execution, and costs of the program. CONCLUSION: Given that mid-career faculty development in academic medicine has not been extensively studied, this evaluation is able to provide a novel perspective to guide future initiatives aimed at this specific subset of higher education

A report of the AGCPD task force to evaluate associations between select admissions requirements, demographics, and performance on ABGC certification examination

Graduation from a genetic counseling graduate program accredited by the Accreditation Council of Genetic Counseling and certification obtained by passing the American Board of Genetic Counseling (ABGC) certification examination are increasingly required to practice as a genetic counselor in the USA. Despite the ABGC certification examination serving as a gateway to the genetic counseling career, there have been no research studies to date that have examined what variables are associated with examination performance. Therefore, the Association of Genetic Counseling Program Directors established a Task Force to assess whether trainee demographics, Grade point average (GPA) and Graduate Record Exam (GRE®) percentile scores are associated with passing the ABGC certification examination on the first attempt. We surveyed accredited genetic counseling graduate programs in North America and gathered demographic data, admissions variables, and certification examination outcome data for 1,494 trainees from 24 training programs, representing approximately 60.5% of matriculants between 2007 and 2016. Univariable analysis was performed to assess associations between admissions variables and categorical outcome (pass vs. fail) on the certification examination using Wilcoxon rank‐sum or Fisher’s exact test. Variables significantly associated with the categorical board outcome were then entered in a stepwise model selection procedure. In stepwise logistic regression, trainees with higher GPA (OR = 3.41; 95% CI = 1.99, 5.83), higher verbal (OR = 1.02; 95% CI = 1.01, 1.03) and quantitative (OR = 1.02; 95% CI = 1.01, 1.03) GRE® scores, female trainees (OR = 2.95; 95% CI = 1.70, 5.12), and White trainees (OR 3.37; 95% CI = 2.14, 5.30) had higher odds of passing the certification examination on the first attempt. As programs move to a holistic approach to graduate admissions in order to improve access to the genetic counseling profession, our results may influence programs to provide additional preparation for the certification examination for all trainees. In addition, genetic counseling professional organizations should continue to work together to assess and eliminate outcome disparities in admissions, training, and certification processes.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/171994/1/jgc41537.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/171994/2/jgc41537_am.pd