Characteristics Sought When Hiring Faculty in Family Medicine Residency Programs

Background and Objectives: Faculty shortages are a significant concern in family medicine education. Many family medicine residency programs need to recruit faculty in the coming years. As a result, family medicine faculty and resident physicians will be interviewing candidates to fill these vacancies. Little is known about the characteristics valued in a family medicine residency faculty candidate. Methods: Using a cross-sectional survey of family medicine faculty and resident physicians in family medicine residency programs in Kansas, we attempted to define which characteristics are most valued by current faculty members and resident physicians in family medicine residency programs during the faculty hiring process. Results: Of 187 invited respondents, 93 completed the survey (49.7% response rate). Twenty-five characteristics, grouped into five domains of relationship building, clinical, teaching, research and administrative skills, were rated as either not important, important, or very important. Building and maintaining healthy relationships was the most important characteristic for faculty, residents, males, and females. Administrative characteristics were the lowest ranked domain in our survey. Discussion: These results provide an important snapshot of the characteristics valued in faculty candidates for family medicine residency programs. Understanding the paradigm used by existing faculty and resident physicians in family medicine residency programs when considering new faculty hires has an important impact on faculty recruitment and faculty development programs.

Nurses at the Table: Action Now! for Nursing Education

Nursing faculty shortages are a crisis at both the state and national levels. In celebration of the Year of the Nurse and Midwife, we share the successes of Action Now!, a movement spearheaded by the Washington Center for Nursing; the Washington Board Of Nursing; and the Council on Nursing Education in Washington State. Securing sustainable financing for nursing programs was the top goal set by the Action Now! coalition. In addition, three major nursing unions assisted with legislative advocacy, helping to secure significant funding from the state legislature to increase nursing educator salaries. We offer background information about how a diverse coalition of nursing organizations joined forces with key stakeholders to address this crisis in nursing education. The article describes vision and implementation for Action Now!, our successes and lessons learned, and the effort to move forward with ongoing challenges to identify and address barriers in nursing education.

The Perceptions of Nurse Educators regarding the use of High Fidelity Simulation in Nursing Education

Although nurse educators are aware of the advantages of simulation-based training, some still feel uncomfortable to use technology or lack the motivation to learn how to use the technology. The aging population of nurse educators causes frustration and anxiety. They struggle with how to include these tools particularly in the light of faculty shortages. Nursing education programmes are increasingly adopting simulation in both undergraduate and graduate curricula. The aim of this study was to determine the perceptions of nurse educators regarding the use of high fidelity simulation (HFS) in nursing education at a South African private nursing college. A national survey of nurse educators and clinical training specialists was completed with 118 participants; however, only 79 completed the survey. The findings indicate that everyone is at the same level as far as technology readiness is concerned, however, it does not play a significant role in the use of HFS. These findings support the educators’ need for training to adequately prepare them to use simulation equipment. There is a need for further research to determine what other factors play a role in the use of HFS; and if the benefits of HFS are superior to other teaching strategies warranting the time and financial commitment. The findings of this study can be used as guidelines for other institutions to prepare their teaching staff in the use of HFS.

Residents’ Perspectives on Careers in Academic Medicine:

Background and Objectives: Worsening faculty shortages in medical schools and residency programs are threatening the US medical education infrastructure. Little is known about the factors that influence the decision of family medicine residents to choose or not choose academic careers. Our study objective was to answer the following question among family medicine residents: “What is your greatest concern or fear about pursuing a career in academic family medicine?” Methods: Participants were family medicine residents who attended the Faculty for Tomorrow Workshop at the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Annual Spring Conference in 2016 and 2017. Free responses to the aforementioned prompt were analyzed using a constant comparative method and grounded theory approach. Results: A total of 156 participants registered for the workshops and 95 (61%) answered the free response question. Eight distinct themes emerged from the analysis. The most frequently recurring theme was “lack of readiness or mentorship,” which accounted for nearly one-third (31%) of the codes. Other themes included work-life balance and burnout (17%), job availability and logistics (15%), lack of autonomy or flexibility (11%), competing pressures/roles (10%), lower financial rewards (4%), politics and bureaucracy (4%), and research (3%). Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study to identify barriers and disincentives to pursuing a career in academic medicine from the perspective of family medicine residents. There may be at least eight major obstacles, for which we summarize and consider potential interventions. More research is needed to understand why residents choose, or don’t choose, academic careers.

A Critique of the Undergraduate Nursing Preceptorship Model

The preceptorship model is a cornerstone of clinical undergraduate nursing education in Canadian nursing programs. Their extensive use means that nursing programs depend heavily on the availability and willingness of Registered Nurses to take on the preceptor role. However, both the health service and education industries are faced with challenges that seem to undermine the effectiveness of the preceptorship clinical model. Indeed, the unstable nature of the clinical setting as a learning environment in conjunction with faculty shortages and inadequate preparation for preceptors and supervising faculty calls us to question if the preceptorship model is able to meet student learning needs and program outcomes. In a critical analysis of preceptorship, we offer a deconstruction of the model to advance clinical nursing education discourse.