A learner-centered academic career development curriculum.

Abstract

Objective: To develop a learner-centered curriculum introducing internal medicine residents to the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for a successful academic career. Description: Much has been written about the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requirements that residents be trained in research.1 Indeed, our own program has successfully met this challenge.2 However, there is a growing recognition that a successful academic career requires more than just completing a successful research project. The goals of this curriculum development process were to identify areas academic clinicians felt were important to career development, to identify areas in which residents felt least informed, and to focus instruction in these areas. The authors developed a list of topics academic clinicians identified as important for career development. A list of 20 topics was submitted to residents, who were asked to rank each topic using a five-point Likert scale. We then chose the four topics with Likert means higher than 4.7 for incorporation into workshop for spring 2001. The workshops were (1) Academic Career Opportunities—an overview of the various types of academic careers, presented with six representative faculty describing career paths to becoming physician scientists, clinician educators, or scholarly clinicians; (2) How to Choose a Research Project and Optimize the Mentor Relationship—a discussion of project selection, mentor selection, and cultivation of the mentor relationship, between a senior scientist and three recent graduates of the residency; (3) How to Prepare a Curriculum Vitae, and Why a CV Is Important for Academic Acceptance and Promotion—an overview of academic ranks, the requirements for promotion, and the elements of a well-formed CV; and (4) Manuscript Preparation, Submission, and Review—a discussion of successful and unsuccessful manuscripts, errors and pitfalls to avoid in manuscript preparation and submission, and suggestions to optimize manuscript acceptance. Each workshop had predefined goals and objectives. An evaluation questionnaire consisting of six questions rated on a five-point Likert scale with a comment section was sent to the attendees to assess whether the goals and objectives had been met. The survey results were reviewed in a blinded fashion by the workshop coordinators. Discussion: We found that residents were interested in academic career development but had significant knowledge gaps. The evaluation process, particularly the comment section, was used to modify the 2001–02 sessions to better meet the needs of residents. For instance, we found that residents were extremely interested in academic rank and promotions, but they did not want to forego better CV development to learn about this. Consequently, we are separating these sessions. We are also conducting future workshops earlier in the academic year to give residents the opportunity to use skills in the formative stages of project development and to provide more time to cultivate the network of potential mentors. A longitudinal study of residents trained with this curriculum will chart their overall academic career development.