Outcom es of a Com prehensive Faculty Developm ent Program for Local , Fu ll - tim e Faculty Jeffrey

Family medicine has a long history of using faculty development programs (FDPs) to prepare junior faculty for non-clinical roles that are essential to their success in academic medicine. In April 1997, Family Medicine published an issue dedicated to faculty development, providing a state-of-the-art review of content areas, methods, and outcomes. Subsequently, annual meetings of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) have offered a series of daylong preconferences and special sessions (1999–2001) highlighting advances and limitations in the field. Reid and colleagues reported that a major limitation in the faculty development field up to 1997 was that program studies were unlikely to convince program funders and stakeholders of their effectiveness because of methodological limitations. Further, a critical review of FDP literature by Meurer and Morzinski showed that as of 1997, fewer than half of the published evaluation studies presented program outcomes on productivity or other long-term behavior changes, which have been increasingly valued by funders and stakeholders interested in program accountability. Since 1997, eight published studies have evaluated FDP outcomes. These reports, from family medicine, general pediatrics, and general internal medicine, have focused on behaviors and achievements of FDP completers. Two studies, one by Rust et al and the other by Kohrs and Mainous, revealed positive FDP outcomes on faculty recruitment and retention. A study by Hewson and Copeland demonstrated a positive association between FDP participation and improved clinical teaching. Woods found that FDP graduates were more confident and effective in their teaching roles. Three studies conducted by Simon and colleagues, Morzinski and Schubot, and Rust and colleagues reported an increase in academic productivity measured by publications and presentations associated with FDP participation. Since the Family Medicine dedicated issue, faculty development investigators have a lso Outcom es of a Com prehensive Faculty Developm ent Program for Local, Fu ll-tim e Faculty