A Virtual Medical Faculty Development Program for Remote Teaching, Pilot for Replication

Abstract Background: Due to COVID 19 pandemic, several universities have experienced a paradigm shift from classroom to online teaching/ learning. The digital transformation of learning management systems has become a necessity rather than a luxury. Especially baby boomers and generation x may struggle to cope with the challenging transformation; hence there is a dire need for a faculty development program to achieve the goal of that transformation and bridge the gaps in faculty’s technology skills and competencies. Objectives: The primary purpose of the virtual medical faculty development program (VFDP) is to equip educators with technology competencies shown to be conducive to remote online learning. Methodology: An interventional prospective study was held in a university setting. A need analysis was conducted to prioritize the critical technological skills of for faculty members. Based on this analysis, only the indispensable skills that participating faculty members were expected to acquire were included in the program. From each department, 3- 4 Faculty participants were recruited to join in the program with an overall 93 enrolled participants from 26 departments in the Medical School . The intervention comprised five sessions, a session every other day, and lasted for ten days. The Kirkpatrick model was utilized to evaluate the program. 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). Conclusion: The virtual medical faculty development program (VFDP) has supported the participating faculty in developing their needed technological competencies required to bridge the gap of remote teaching/learning.