A regional campus, Mississauga Academy of Medicine (MAM), opened in September 2011 as part of an established medical school at the University of Toronto (UofT) in association with a large, formerly non-teaching hospital (Trillium Health Partners-THP). This expansion required simultaneous engagement of established non-teaching clinicians and rapid training of new teachers. 

This poster describes the development of a new, customized, locally delivered, Faculty Development (FD) program, designed with unique features to engage and prepare new teachers.

Methods:

A comprehensive situational analysis was conducted that produced an innovative FD Conceptual Framework and 6 principles that guided the development of an integrated and collaborative FD approach.

Key components included:

• Identification of key stakeholders (university and hospital)
• Conducted a needs analysis – interview different stakeholders
• Reviewed the undergraduate curriculum (met with course directors, coordinators, instructors, attended classes, met with students, became familiar with the admissions process)
• Gathered information from different sources to understand medical learners at different stages of their education program (What learners know? What learners are able to do with what they know? What learners are willing to do? What to do with learners who do not want to learn?)
• Became familiar with the UofT Centre for Faculty Development program to decide how best to incorporate existing sessions (What can we maintain as is? What may need modification? What needs to be added?)
• Became familiar with FD Programs/Professional Development Programs that are offered by specialty departments at the Faculty of Medicine, UofT  to gain understanding of how best to integrate and collaborate with these existing programs.
• Became familiar with the different FD Programs offered across Canada and USA for their satellite campuses at Medical Schools and other Higher Education organizations.

Guiding Principals:

Based on the identified stakeholders, the analysis to date suggests the following guiding principles:

1. The undergraduate medical education curriculum delivered through the MAM must include comparable educational experiences and equivalent methods of assessment across all instructional sites (LCME ED-8 Standard)
2. FD at MAM follows a holistic collaborative approach to create an academic learning community and to build local capacity
3. The goal is to create a “learning-centered environment” for undergraduate medical learners. This requires a strategic and integrated approach in three areas (see Conceptual Framework)
4. Just-In-Time learning (occurs in close proximity in space and time to the learning opportunity)
5. Focused on immediate course-specific needs
6. Methods used to teach faculty to teach mimic those used to teach students to learn
7. Supported by appropriate Communication Technology that facilitates learning

Program Conceptual Framework:

Faculty Development at MAM

Medical Students/Learners. Click for details >

Healthcare Environment/Professionals. Click for details >

Medical Educators. Click for details >

Conceptual Framework adapted by Jana Bajcar, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto (2010) from framework developed by Cleo Boyd, Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre, University of Toronto at Mississauga.