Building Faculty Learning Communities for Medical Education Scholarship in a Multi-Campus System: Four Years of Experience

Abstract

The Indiana University School of Medicine employs a large geographically distributed system of medical education composed of 8 regional medical campuses and the main medical campus in Indianapolis. An inherent challenge is being able to provide relevant faculty development opportunities across the state. Beginning Fall of 2019, we implemented Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) specifically designed to develop faculty competence in medical education research. Each FLC team consisted of 4-6 medical educators engaged in a collaborative educational research project led by an experienced faculty mentor. In addition to the group work, participants were expected to attend a series of monthly seminars to build foundational skills in educational research. To date, 69 medical educators (both preclinical/clinical) have participated in 13 FLC teams. To assess participant satisfaction, surveys were administered at the mid-point and end of each FLC team’s term (68% cumulative response rate). By the end of their term, approximately half of the participants had submitted their work for publication or presentation. A successful FLC program requires strong administrative oversight and organization but can easily be replicated elsewhere.