Experienced Faculty Research Articles

Experiences of medical students and faculty regarding the use of long case as a formative assessment method at a tertiary care teaching hospital in a low resource setting: a qualitative study

IntroductionThe long case is used to assess medical students’ proficiency in performing clinical tasks. As a formative assessment, the purpose is to offer feedback on performance, aiming to enhance and expedite clinical learning. The long case stands out as one of the primary formative assessment methods for clinical clerkship in low-resource settings but has received little attention in the literature.ObjectiveTo explore the experiences of medical students and faculty regarding the use of the Long Case Study as a formative assessment method at a tertiary care teaching hospital in a low-resource setting.MethodologyA qualitative study design was used. The study was conducted at Makerere University, a low-resource setting. The study participants were third- and fifth-year medical students as well as lecturers. Purposive sampling was utilized to recruit participants. Data collection comprised six Focus Group Discussions with students and five Key Informant Interviews with lecturers. The qualitative data were analyzed by inductive thematic analysis.ResultsThree themes emerged from the study: ward placement, case presentation, and case assessment and feedback. The findings revealed that students conduct their long cases at patients’ bedside within specific wards/units assigned for the entire clerkship. Effective supervision, feedback, and marks were highlighted as crucial practices that positively impact the learning process. However, challenges such as insufficient orientation to the long case, the super-specialization of the hospital wards, pressure to hunt for marks, and inadequate feedback practices were identified.ConclusionThe long case offers students exposure to real patients in a clinical setting. However, in tertiary care teaching hospitals, it’s crucial to ensure proper design and implementation of this practice to enable students’ exposure to a variety of cases. Adequate and effective supervision and feedback create valuable opportunities for each learner to present cases and receive corrections.

Virtual Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Training in the Pandemic Era: Feasibility, Satisfaction, and the Road Ahead.

Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are essential assessments for evaluating the clinical competencies of medical students. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant disruption in medical education, prompting institutions to adopt virtual formats for academic activities. This study analyzes the feasibility, satisfaction, and experiences of pediatric board candidates and faculty during virtual or electronic OSCE (e-OSCE) training sessions using Zoom video communication (Zoom Video Communications, Inc.,San Jose, USA). This is a post-event survey assessing the perceptions of faculty and candidates and the perceived advantages and obstacles of e-OSCE. A total of 142 participants were invited to complete a post-event survey, and 105 (73.9%) completed the survey.There was equal gender representation. More than half of the participants were examiners.The overall satisfaction with the virtual e-OSCE was high, with a mean score of 4.7±0.67 out of 5. Most participants were likely to recommend e-OSCE to a friend or colleague (mean score 8.84±1.51/10).More faculty (66.1%) than candidates (40.8%) preferred e-OSCE (P=0.006). Transitioning to virtual OSCE training during the pandemic proved feasible, with high satisfaction rates. Further research on virtual training for OSCE in medical education is recommended to optimize its implementation and outcomes.

The Effects of Structured Mentorship and Onboarding of Novice Nursing Faculty.

The United States currently is experiencing a nursing faculty shortage that greatly affects the number of nurses entering professional practice. Nurse faculty transitioning from clinical practice to academia face challenges that may have negative effects on job satisfaction and feelings of competence. Despite barriers, quality nursing faculty are needed. This quality improvement project evaluated the effects of an 8-week structured onboarding mentorship on novice nursing faculty's job satisfaction and feelings of competence. Novice faculty were paired with a mentor and completed weekly meetings and an online on-boarding curriculum based on National League for Nursing Nurse Educator Core Competencies. A pretest-posttest design assessed feelings of competence and job satisfaction before and after the 8-week intervention. Findings indicated increased feelings of competence and no change in job satisfaction. Outcomes demonstrate how mentorship and structured orientation can positively benefit novice faculty's experiences and competence during their transition into academia. [J Nurs Educ. 2024;63(6):405-408.].

Faculty and students perspectives towards game-based learning in health sciences higher education

BackgroundGame-Based Learning (GBL) is an innovative pedagogical approach that utilizes digital applications to enhance health sciences higher education. Therefore, analyzing faculty and students' perspectives on GBL can help educational administrators, educators, and researchers tailor GBL to students' needs. PurposeThis study aimed to explore faculty (teachers) and students’ perspectives towards GBL in health sciences higher education. Further to identify barriers affecting the use of GBL as well as recommendations for its use from their perspectives. MethodsA descriptive-qualitative approach was conducted at a Saudi university. A total of 42 semi-structured interviews were completed with a purposive sampling of 22 faculty members and 20 students until data saturation. The data were analyzed using a thematic content analysis approach. ResultsFaculty members and students reflected on their personal experiences using GBL, and the data presented seven themes and 30 categories emerged from the content analysis: common digital apps, purpose and uses, effect or benefits of GBL, personal experience with GBL, challenges and barriers affecting the use of digital games, and recommendations for educators on using GBL apps. ConclusionThe experiences of both students and faculty demonstrated that GBL can enhance classroom learning and complement traditional teaching approaches in health sciences higher education. GBL's safe, immersive environment lets students practice many generic skills, boosting interest, motivation, and peer-mediated learning. Faculty and students shared their GBL experiences, responsibilities, and enthusiasm. Health sciences higher education institutions should consider ways to increase flexibility in providing resources and training to educators who want to build and use the GBL approach in their classroom.

Faculty development to design effective online courses: Responding to requirements

Since the pandemic, the importance of faculty development has been taken much more attention and has gone from being an ‘expectation’ to a ‘requirement’. Therefore, universities have started to step toward faculty development, which is also necessary. A wide variety of professional learning activities has been used for faculty development purposes in universities, but the research examining its effectiveness is limited. Our goal is to investigate the experiences of faculty from diverse backgrounds regarding technology-based, high-quality professional development programs in terms of their effectiveness. The faculty working at a foundation university participated in high-quality professional development programmes implemented in this study. The data were collected through focus group interviews. Using a qualitative methodology, we have found that faculty improved their knowledge and skills in designing and teaching online courses, with some faculty even reporting active use of what they have learned in their class and finding it valuable and effective. Program features such as feedback, facilitation, and best examples are helpful for having faculty grow pedagogically. The faculty has demonstrated that they can participate in learning activities that are meaningful to them in their daily lives. For the professional development programmes designed for the faculty to be effective in future studies, it is recommended that the programmes should be designed in a meaningful way for the faculty. Received: 3 November 2022Accepted: 5 February 2024

Exploring the Lived Experiences of African American and Latinx STEM Faculty and Students in the U.S.

Exploring the Lived Experiences of African American and Latinx STEM Faculty and Students in the U.S.

Creating a win-win: A novel layered learning approach for assessing first-year pharmacy students' communication skills

Background and purposeIndividualized assessment of students in skills-based courses is essential for practice readiness, however recruiting evaluators is challenging. Our school of pharmacy offers a teaching certificate program for postgraduate year one pharmacy residents (PGY1 residents; PGY1s) which requires completion of a teaching experience. The longitudinal layered learning assessment experience (LLLAE) was designed to meet instructional needs for individualized assessment of first-year pharmacy students' communication skills and provide a meaningful teaching opportunity for PGY1s. This manuscript describes the implementation and evaluates the impact of the LLLAE. Educational activity and settingPGY1s were invited to participate in the yearlong LLLAE. Faculty developed PGY1s' skills through training sessions, direct observation, and debrief sessions. PGY1s evaluated students and provided feedback using pre-defined criteria during 3 summative assessments (capstones). Capstones were common pharmacy practice scenarios in which students interact with an actor serving as a standardized patient or provider. PGY1s completed an end-of-year survey to self-rate their improvement in evaluating students, providing feedback, and confidence. FindingsTwenty-two PGY1s participated in the LLLAE over 2 years. They evaluated 73.2% of total capstone interactions. The end-of-year survey was completed by 20 PGY1s (90.9% response rate). All respondents indicated improvement in their skills to evaluate students, ability to provide feedback, and confidence. Scores were 4 or 5 (scale of 1 to 5) across all measures. Key contributors fostering improvement were the training and debrief sessions, faculty feedback, pre-defined criteria, and multiple practice opportunities. SummaryThis novel layered learning approach was a win-win for faculty and PGY1s. The approach improved feasibility for faculty to continue individualized student assessment while mentoring early career pharmacists. PGY1s gained an opportunity to contribute to student growth, learn from experienced faculty, and develop skills for practice. Additionally, students benefited from individualized feedback.

Experiences of junior dental faculty transitioning from clinician to educator.

Dental faculty enter academia, after a career in practice or directly from school, without any formal education training. Faculty development programs have been designed based on survey needs assessments, but not on in-depth descriptions of junior faculty transition experiences. The purpose of this research project is to describe the transition experiences of dental faculty from clinician to educator within the last 5 years. A qualitative multiple case study approach from an emic perspective was used. An emic approach is an analysis from the perspective of one who participates in the group being studied. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 12 junior dental faculty. Thematic analysis identified common themes in the data through the lens of the social cognitive career theory. Three salient themes were extracted from the data: guidance, job satisfaction, and motivating factors. Guidance was the main theme with participants revealing their need for more formal preparation regarding teaching, formal mentorship, and career progression goals. Participants find academia highly rewarding, and a unique finding was that physical injury was a major factor to entering academia. This study reveals that junior dental faculty members feel unprepared for their teaching role and highlights the benefits of mentorship in helping them develop their vocational goals and advance their careers. This study illuminates why clinicians choose to leave clinical practice, the preparation they receive, the areas in which they feel unprepared, and how they develop their teaching skills. These insights can help academic institutions better support their faculty and improve student learning outcomes.

Work-Life Balance of Faculty in Professional Physical Therapist Education: A Mixed-Methods Study.

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore perceptions of work-life balance (WLB) of full-time faculty in professional physical therapist (PT) education programs. Studies show that faculty are at risk of diminution of WLB and subsequent burnout due to job expectations and changing educational landscapes. Limited evidence exists to describe perceived WLB of faculty in professional PT education. Full-time faculty in professional PT education programs (n = 239) responded to an online survey and 16 participated in focus group discussions. The Work/Nonwork Interference and Enhancement Survey (W/NW Scale), faculty characteristic prompts, and open-ended questions were disseminated electronically to all accredited professional PT education programs within the United States. Focus groups were conducted to further explore nuances of WLB. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for survey categorical variables with means and standard deviations for continuous variables. Differences in W/NW Scale and faculty characteristics were analyzed using independent-samples Mann-Whitney U tests. Open coding and an iterative process of thematic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. Medians for all W/NW Scale dimensions were between 2 and 3 out of 5. W/NW Scale dimension scores differed significantly in each of the faculty characteristics of gender, defined workload, and faculty job searching (Z = -2.399 to -3.517, P ≤ .016). Qualitative data yielded 3 main themes: 1) implicit and explicit job duties; 2) leadership; and 3) individual boundaries. Ebb and flow of WLB emerged as an overarching theme. This study offers a portrayal of the lived experience of faculty regarding WLB. Results offer useful information about faculty demographics, work-related factors, and personal responsibilities. One limitation was that cultural, community, and religious demands were not explored. Findings may facilitate improved understanding of faculty WLB perceptions and can guide leadership to optimize the balance between faculty's paid work and personal life.

An exploration of generativity in faculty group processes in post-secondary.

Like most organizations, a university needs to plan for its success. The environment in which universities operate continues to shift and change consequent to economic realities, changing demographics, changes in technology, and most recently a global pandemic. Planning in higher education must be creative and responsive to address multifaceted demands. To sustain post-secondary education, institutional leaders need to develop skill sets that promote effective dialogue, group work, and generativity within internal organizations. Concepts of leadership for the 21st century shift focus away from the previous approaches of making incremental improvements to already existing processes toward discovering possibilities, exploring potential innovations, and generating actions (Burgess & Newton, 2015; Webber, 2016). Building on existing frameworks for understanding generativity in group work and planning, this study sought to understand generative processes and conversations that compel people to act upon thoughts and feelings arising from social interactions. A descriptive study design was utilized to explore and summarize the experiences of faculty involved in three different group planning processes: brainstorming (Osborn 1953, 1957, 1963), a force field analysis (Lewin, 1947), and a variation of an appreciative inquiry process (Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987). The development of a generative conversations survey tool focused on how the faculty participants perceived the qualities of their experiences. A key outcome of the research was the creation of a set of recommendations for thinking about the design of group sessions and meetings that can transmethodologically enhance chances for generative results.

A collective action approach to improving attitudes and self-efficacy towards gender equality among male STEM academics

Despite the implementation of equality interventions within higher education, progress towards gender parity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) remains slow. Male educators often exhibit poorer engagement with diversity initiatives, potentially contributing to persisting gender disparities in STEM given men’s longstanding dominance in these programs. Two experiments investigate how equality interventions should be designed to maximize support from male educators. Experiment 1 (N = 72; Mage = 39.72, SDage = 12.33) used virtual reality to manipulate 2 factors among male academics: (1) exposure to gender inequality and (2) virtually taking the perspective of a female scientist. Using self-report and behavioral measures, viewing an empirical presentation outlining the prevalence of gender issues in STEM yielded the greatest support for equality initiatives following successful perspective-taking. Experiment 2 (N = 120; Mage = 32.48, SDage = 10.36) varied two additional factors among male academics: (1) evidence-based methods to reduce gender biases in STEM (i.e., promoting self-efficacy) and (2) blaming male academics for gender inequalities. Promoting self-efficacy and blaming men for disparities led to greater confidence in male academics’ ability to address gender inequalities in their field. Notably, higher self-efficacy accounted for greater support for equality initiatives and internal motives to engage with diversity programs. Findings provide an empirical framework and high-tech training tools for promoting engagement with diversity initiatives among male educators, informing development of interventions within higher education to improve student and faculty experiences in STEM.

A model for supporting biomedical and public health researcher use of publicly available All of Us data at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

The aim of this study was to describe opportunities and challenges associated with the development and implementation of a program for supporting researchers underrepresented in biomedical research. We describe a case study of the All of Us Researcher Academy supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including feedback from participants, instructors, and coaches. Lessons include the importance of inviting role models into learning networks, establishing and maintaining trusted relationships, and making coaches available for technical questions from researcher participants. Although research has focused on learning outcomes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics at Minority Serving Institutions in the United States, literature tends to lack models for initiatives to improve everyday research experiences of faculty and researchers at such institutions or to encourage researcher use of public-use data such as that available through NIH's All of Us Research Program. The All of Us Researcher Academy offers a model that addresses these needs.

Sustainable quality improvement: An essential ingredient for sustainability in modern medical curricula?

Health care delivery contributes a significant carbon footprint in the United Kingdom, and paradoxically climate change is linked to poorer human health outcomes. New General Medical Council (GMC) requirements mandate medical graduates must be able to apply sustainable care to their practice. Implementation of sustainable health care (SHC) teaching is a new challenge for medical schools, and there are several identified barriers including an overcrowded curriculum, lack of expertise within faculties, lack of institutional support and inadequate assessment techniques. We established a new SHC curriculum spiralling throughout the overall medical curriculum, and as part of this introduced a sustainable quality improvement (susQI) project to our final year cohort. SusQI considers the environmental, social and financial impacts as well as patient and population outcomes. Our students undertook this in their final year GP assistantships. We sought multi-sourced data through focus groups, formal end of placement feedback, informal feedback and external feedback. We applied thematic analysis to focus group transcriptions and triangulated with the other data sources. We identified some common themes: First, susQI was enjoyed and valuable; second, it allowed meaningful participation; third, it created a co-learning environment; and fourth, timing and curriculum placement are important when integrating susQI. SusQI can implement SHC into the overcrowded medical curriculum in a low cost, low resource manner without the need for experienced faculty. SusQI is empowering for students and grants them an active team role. Expansion into secondary and tertiary care is feasible, and we contend that susQI can be placed in other health care curricula.

Enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within agricultural higher education: Insights from Black faculty and administrators in agricultural colleges at United States land grant institutions

The experiences of Black faculty as leaders and administrators in the field of agriculture have not been widely studied nor reported. The goal of this research focused on Black faculty leaders' experiences in agriculture to gain firsthand insights regarding the enhancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion within agricultural higher education. The central research question guiding the study was: What are the experiences of Black faculty leaders at Colleges of Agriculture at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs)? Counter-storytelling was used to explore the personal narratives of eight participants. These experiences fall within the tenets of Critical Race Theory. Three primary themes emerged: Navigating Leadership: Microaggressions in the Midst; Inequities: Is Everyone Really Equal; and Isolation: The Lone Ranger. Findings of this study hold valuable implications for practitioners, policymakers, and academic institutions seeking to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion within agricultural higher education. Recommendations for policy and practice include providing support for leadership mentoring and professional development, conducting robust research on the intersection of race, ethnicity, and gender for faculty of color, and establishing collaborative initiatives between academic institutions, industry partners, and community organizations to address historical disparities and stimulate interest in agriculture among Black communities.

Roadmap for integrating the AACN essentials with perioperative nursing

Faculty members teaching in pre-licensure nursing programs are entrusted with revising nursing education to meet the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education. Colleges of nursing faculty experience difficulty establishing enough clinical sites as healthcare facilities continue to overcome staffing challenges since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Perioperative nursing is an underutilized area despite the potential for students to attain valuable nursing competencies and experiences in perioperative areas. An opportunity exists for faculty, regardless of having perioperative nursing experience or not, to use perioperative environments for clinical experiences in didactic and simulation courses. Our aim is to provide a roadmap for nursing faculty to include perioperative nursing in the pre-licensure nursing curriculum. Perioperative education exemplars aligned with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education domains are included for adoption in any college of nursing.

Why Opportunities for Tenure Matter for Minoritized Faculty in Academic Medicine.

Academic medicine continues to characterize the experiences of Black and other minoritized faculty in medicine to enhance their careers and promote their advancement. An issue of discussion is tenure and its role in the advancement and retention of this group. Tenure is a sign of national presence, command of an area of study, and can demonstrate support from the institution in terms of permanent employment, eligibility to apply for awards, sit or vote on certain committees or qualify for certain leadership opportunities. Anecdotally there have been reports that tenure is a thing of the past that has lost relevance prompting some to end tenure in their institutions. Reasons for this are complex, however the literature does not include minoritized faculty as a reason for the need to revise or eliminate tenure and tenure earning tracks. The authors discuss 3 reasons why Black and other minoritized faculty should be afforded the opportunity to achieve permanent status in their academic health centers. They include histories of being denied freedom, having information concealed or being giving false information, and being denied permanent academic employment status.

Community, Public, and Population Health Content in Nursing Curricula: National Survey Results.

Policy, societal, and system changes are prompting nursing programs to expand population health content in curricula. This study examined the current state of community, public, and population health (CPPH) education in nursing curricula throughout the United States. This descriptive study examined CPPH education in nursing programs nationally. A survey was developed and distributed to nursing programs from January to May 2021. CPPH content integration occurred across all program levels, and the majority of the participants were involved in the development of CPPH-specific curriculum. Programs experienced reductions in CPPH curriculum due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), lack of experienced faculty, budget constraints, and an emphasis on acute care. The continuation of CPPH education in current nursing curricula is critical. National and academic nursing organizations must continue to monitor CPPH content in nursing curricula to assure a competent CPPH nursing workforce. [J Nurs Educ. 2024;63(5):282-291.].

Using ChatGPT in the Development of Clinical Reasoning Cases: A Qualitative Study.

Background There has been an explosion of commentary and discussion about the ethics and utility of using artificial intelligence in medicine, and its practical use in medical education is still being debated. Through qualitative research methods, this study aims to highlight the advantages and pitfalls of using ChatGPT in the development of clinical reasoning cases for medical student education. Methods Five highly experienced faculty in medical education were provided instructions to create unique clinical reasoning cases for three different chief concerns using ChatGPT 3.0. Faculty were then asked to reflect on and review the created cases. Finally, a focus group was conducted to further analyze and describe their experiences with the new technology. Results Overall, faculty found the use of ChatGPT in the development of clinical reasoning cases easy to use but difficult to get to certain objectives and largely incapable of being creative enough to create complexity for student use without heavy editing. The created cases did provide a helpful starting point and were extremely efficient; however, faculty did experience some medical inaccuracies and fact fabrication. Conclusion There is value to using ChatGPT to develop curricular content, especially for clinical reasoning cases, but it needs to be comprehensively reviewed and verified. To efficiently and effectively utilize the tool, educators will need to develop a framework that can be easily translatable into simple prompts that ChatGPT can understand. Future work will need to strongly consider the risks of recirculating biases and misinformation.

Pharmacy faculty experiences with student academic entitlement: a multinational study from the Arab world

Academic Entitlement (AE) is the expectation by students to receive high grades or preferential treatment without significant effort. Exploring AE from faculty perspective has not been investigated in Arab colleges of pharmacy. The aim of this study was to explore experiences and perceptions towards student AE among pharmacy faculty in the Arab World. A cross-sectional, self-administered, anonymous, electronic survey was sent to pharmacy faculty across pharmacy colleges in Arab countries. The survey collected demographic data, an AE measure including 17 items reflecting seven AE components, and faculty perceptions and perceived reasons for AE. A total of 345 responses were collected. The AE level was moderate (46.05 ±7.29), and the highest scores among its components were for customer service expectation (62%) and responsibility avoidance (59%). In multiple linear regression, AE showed positive significant association with faculty in clinical pharmacy departments and those having fewer years of experience. Most common complaints heard by faculty from students were requests to turn in assignments late (90%), while the most common communication issues faculty faced with students were unprofessional verbal communication (58%) and unprofessional messages on social media (57%). Poor admission criteria (40%) and existence of multiple private colleges of pharmacy (37%) were the most common perceived reasons for AE by participating faculty. This study reveals moderate AE experienced by pharmacy faculty in the Arab World, as well as common complaints, communication issues, and AE reasons. In collaboration with other stakeholders, faculty play an important role in indicating expectations from students regarding AE, and research is warranted to check if such interventions reduce AE among pharmacy students.

Postcolonialism, culture, and values in evaluating scientific collaborations with minority-serving institutions

Postcolonial theory can be paired with a values-engaged educative evaluation approach to resist imperialism and colonialism in evaluation spaces, de-Westernize conceptualizations of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and extend the capacity of culturally responsive evaluation. Beyond the joining of the values-engaged educative approach and postcolonial theory, Collaboration Research Network theories offer another distinct but complementary avenue for exploring structural power imbalance and invisible hierarchies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics evaluation contexts. Using these three theories, values-engaged educative, Collaboration Research Network, and postcolonial theory, this qualitative study examined the perceptions and experiences of faculty and students at three minority-serving institutions participating in a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Center. This study aims to bridge theories traditionally used in research with evaluation frameworks to reconceptualize concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion.