Dawn Bragg

Outcomes Results From the Evaluation of the APA/HRSA Faculty Scholars Program

BACKGROUND The goal of the Ambulatory Pediatric Association/Health Resources and Services Administration National Faculty Development Scholars Program was to improve primary care education in the pediatric setting. The program evaluation focused on four stake-holder objectives: 1) increase the educational skills of community and generalist faculty; 2) create pediatric leadership focused on changing the culture within the medical community to support primary care education; 3) develop an infrastructure that supports sustained faculty development efforts at the local, regional, and national level; and 4) include content areas consistent with Health Resources and Services Administration contract requirements. METHODS A multimethod evaluation plan, focused on the 107 completing scholars, was implemented utilizing six evaluation instruments. RESULTS Key outcomes from both quantitative and qualitative outcome measures reveal that all evaluation objectives were achieved. Scholars presented 438 local workshops and 161 regional/national workshops focused on pediatric education with a combined attendance of 7939 participants. More than half of the scholars have now assumed a leadership position in education associated with program participation. Ninety-three percent of the scholars reported organizational/infrastructure changes associated with their program participation ranging from increased numbers of community teaching sites to specific resource allocations to support of faculty development. CONCLUSIONS The outcomes of this evaluation reveal that the faculty development program achieved its objectives, with participants leading workshops, impacting faculty development infrastructure, advancing their own careers, and being strategically positioned in leadership roles with the skills to improve primary care education in the ambulatory setting.

Improving feedback with a clinical encounter form.

No abstract available.

Have clinical teaching effectiveness ratings changed with the Medical College of Wisconsin's entry into the health care marketplace?

Medical schools, as competitors in today’s health care marketplace, have the challenge of training future physicians while increasingly relying on clinical revenues. Is teaching compatible with competitive managed care in the future of health care? Skeff, Bowen, and Irby argue that teaching takes time and that its values must be re-emphasized as a core mission of medical schools. Medical education researchers have reported diminishing amounts of time available for physicians’ educational responsibilities to both residents and medical students. Student evaluations reveal that there has been less time available for them in more recent years. Thus, time impacts on education have been documented, but the critical issue to be investigated is whether the quality of teaching has been compromised. As a large, private medical school, the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) has not escaped the grasp of today’s competitive health care environment. On December 31, 1995, the John L. Doyne Hospital (JLDH), formerly Milwaukee County General Hospital, was closed. While this facility (a primary practice and clinical teaching site) was purchased by a private adult not-for-profit hospital, it’s sale nonetheless serves as a major demarcation point in MCW’s transition into today’s health care marketplace. Indigent care was now provided on a competitive contract basis. Our faculty formed a clinical practice group to enhance their competitive position in this evolving health care environment. Declining federal support for graduate medical education led to decreased positions in selected specialties and their associated support of medical student education. While the multi-dimensional impact of these changes on medical education, at MCW and elsewhere, will take years to analyze, preliminary analysis can reveal whether the quality of clinical teaching has changed during this time period. This study, therefore, examined whether there have been changes in clinical teaching effectiveness ratings as clinicians at MCW compete for patients and revenue.

Two Models for Implementing Senior Mentor Programs in Academic Medical Settings.

This paper compares two models of undergraduate geriatric medical education utilizing senior mentoring programs. Descriptive, comparative multiple-case study was employed analyzing program documents, archival records, and focus group data. Themes were compared for similarities and differences between the two program models. Findings indicate that both programs used the American Geriatrics Society core competencies as a curricular framework, yet adopted two different formats. Students in both programs reported valuable experiences, increased knowledge, and increasingly positive attitudes towards aging and older adults. Other medical education programs may benefit from implementing elements of both models best suited to their institution and curricular needs.

Faculty development: What academic primary care physicians need to know and what they want to know

Background: Recruiting and retaining junior faculty is key to the success of academic medicine, particularly in the primary care disciplines. Purpose: This study integrated principles of adult education and instructional design to identify and prioritize clinical and nonclinical training needs to guide faculty development planning for primary care internal medicine physicians. Methods: A questionnaire was administered. Paired t tests were used to examine differences between facultys current and desired levels of expertise in 5 nonclinical domains. Content analysis was used to examine responses about clinical skills. Results: Paired t tests indicated current levels of competence lower, p < .001, than desired levels in all nonclinical domains. Content analysis surfaced clinical procedures with high frequency. Clinical skills were chosen by faculty as their training priority. Conclusions: Desire for state‐of‐art clinical skills needed by academic primary care physicians may overshadow their desire to learn ...