TEACHERS' PERCEIVED NEEDS IN FACULTY DEVELOPMENT

One of the first steps in any curriculum development is conducting a "needs assessment"  This can consist of both perceived and unperceived needs.  Since I have a role as a faculty developer for both University based faculty (Emergency Medicine) and hospital based staff and physicians, I have speant a considerable abount of time conducting needs assessments of all these teachers.  The culture of faculty or teacher development at a Community Academic Hospital is very different than in a University setting.  While all of the physicians have faculty appointments, most of the staff (nursing and other health professionals) do not have faculty appointments.  In a hospital based setting, most of the faculty development is focused on teacher development.  

What I have learned from faculty perceived needs

The most common perceived needs for faculty development, regardles of who you ask is:

"Giving effective feedback" and

"Teaching clinical reasoning"

The most common perceived barrier to attend a faculty development session regardless of who you ask is:

"The timing of the session"

But surprisingly, there was one significant difference between physicians and other health professionals.

49% of all health professionals (except physicians) reported "no financial support" as a barrier to attend a faculty development session. This compares to only 24% of physicians.