Collective Wisdom in Faculty Development for Competency-Based Medical Education: A Needs Assessment and Survey

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Background: As programs transition to competency-based medical education (CBME), faculty development (FD) will be a key component of supporting successful implementation. Methods: Faculty at the University of Toronto (UofT) with leadership roles in residency education were invited to complete an online survey to explore their experiences with FD for CBME. Descriptive statistics were collected. Results were analyzed using thematic, frequency and comparative analyses between respondent subgroups to identify trends and theme categories relevant to the perceived most effective FD activities, most helpful FD topics as well as program/department needs for future FD initiatives. Results: The overall survey response rate was 44.6%. The most effective FD activity identified by survey respondents was a small group format. Perceived top FD topics included implementing CBME, assessment tools, feedback and coaching along with competence committees. The majority of programs felt that the ideal timing for CBME implementation was 6-12 months prior to implementation. The main perceived barrier to FD was lack of time amongst faculty. Conclusions: This data helped drive FD at UofT by supporting strategic planning for implementing competency based curricular reforms. The results have also informed the need for additional resources and enable focused FD on barriers and needs.