The Effect of Salary Compensation for Time Spent Teaching in an Orthopaedic Residency Program: An Analysis of Teaching Performance Reviews.

Abstract

Although there has been a recent emphasis on standardized resident assessments within Accrediation Council for Graduate Medical Education programs, assessments of faculty teaching performance and effectiveness are less frequent. Our purpose was to compare the teaching performance of orthopaedic surgery faculty receiving compensation for time spent teaching with faculty without compensation. For this prospective investigation, we collected anonymous resident reviews of 23 orthopaedic faculty within a rural, academic orthopaedic residency program over 2 academic years. Performance reviews of the faculty used a validated assessment of clinical teaching effectiveness with nine domains (faculty knowledge, organization, enthusiasm, rapport, involvement in learning experiences, feedback, clinical skill, accessibility, and overall effectiveness). A composite teaching effectiveness score was determined by adding each of the scores from the individual domains. We compared reviews for faculty members with and without compensation for time spent teaching. A total of 202 performance reviews for 23 orthopaedic faculty were analyzed. Most of the faculty were male (91%), and 61% received compensation for teaching. No demographic differences were observed between the two faculty groups. Notable differences between the groups were noted in three domains: enthusiasm, ability to establish rapport as well as direction, and feedback. Faculty compensated for teaching demonstrated a markedly higher composite teaching effectiveness score than those without compensation. These data suggest that orthopaedic faculty compensated for teaching responsibilities provide a better educational experience for resident trainees compared with faculty without compensation for teaching. Future studies should aim to assess varying compensation models for teaching responsibilities across different departments.