Background/Purpose:

Recognizing the importance of supporting educators to improve patient care, the Rheumatology Research Foundation (RRF) offers competitive awards for Clinician Scholar Educators (CSE) in rheumatology. CSE awards have provided project-based funding since 1999 and evolved to provide additional financial support for professional development (PD). By analyzing the experiences of CSE awardees we aimed to identify approaches to support PD for educators in rheumatology. 

Methods:

With IRB approval, each of the 53 rheumatologists who had completed CSE awards by 2014 were invited by email to contribute his or her perspective on PD of medical educators in focus groups or individual interviews. Parallel semi-structured formats were used, probing motivation for study participation, motivation for PD, descriptions and impacts of PD, and suggestions for how to support medical educators’ PD. Focus groups and interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. The authors independently reviewed transcripts using a general inductive approach and developed codes sensitized by theories of adult learning. Investigators compared and contrasted findings, arriving at an expanded and then condensed set of themes.   

Results:

In November 2014, 20 rheumatologists participated in 1-hour focus groups at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Annual Scientific Meeting.  Focus group size ranged from 3-7 participants. Between December 2014 and May 2015, 6 rheumatologists participated in individual telephone interviews, 25-35 minutes in duration.  In total, perspectives of 49% (26/53) of CSE awardees were captured. Gender distribution of participants (54% women) was similar to that of awardees (47% women).  A similar number of participants had received the award in the first 7 years the CSE award was offered as in the subsequent years (12 versus 14).

Interviews captured greater detail than focus groups; overall themes from the focus groups were corroborated in the interviews. Participants cited commitment to supporting medical education, medical educators, the community of CSE awardees, an individual CSE awardee, and the ACR/RRF as motivating factors for study participation. A minority attended to hear others’ experiences. PD experiences before, during and after CSE award funding were described. 

Participants emphasized the value of communities of educators, including the community of CSE awardees, as well as communities of program directors, course directors, educators in formal education programs, and members of Academies of Medical Educators. PD was often triggered by new or desired responsibilities.  Mentorship, collaborations, feedback, inquiry and leadership roles emerged as experiences with critical impact; these were recommended for other educators.

Conclusion:

Experiences reported by CSE awardees as having positive PD impact align most closely with theories of adult development within a constructivist paradigm. Communities of medical educators can be a key source of opportunities for mentorship, team learning, collaborative or collegial inquiry, and leadership roles to promote development of medical educators.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/promoting-professional-development-of-medical-educators-in-rheumatology-perspectives-of-clinician-scholar-educators/