Interprofessional reconstruction of a policy for academic advancement: The evolution and evaluation of scholarship for today, tomorrow, and beyond.

Within higher education, scholarship is narrowly and inconsistently defined, limiting recognition of evolving faculty expectations, particularly for nursing faculty. At this academic medical center, a campus-wide, multi-school, academic advancement policy was achieved with a broader definition of scholarship that included: peer-reviewed publication of federally funded research, as well as innovation in curriculum development, teaching methodology, community engagement, safety and quality improvement, clinical practice, and health policy that would be applicable to tenure and non-tenure track faculty. The background, process, and outcomes of developing an expanded definition of scholarship that encompasses new and evolving areas of scholarship for a reconstructed academic personnel policy is presented.

Defining Scholarship for Today and Tomorrow.

Scholarship, required for academic advancement, has traditionally been defined narrowly, not keeping pace with the expansion of faculty academic activities in health professions schools. How can we refine the definition of scholarship so that it better aligns with the scope of current faculty practice within academic health systems? Revision of the academic policies for promotion and tenure at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School afforded an opportunity to redefine scholarship such that a broader platform was available for faculty recognition, aligning with current academic standards, yet providing flexibility for the future. The authors describe the historical context of the definition of scholarship and their institution's process to construct a definition of scholarship with three essential elements: advancement of knowledge, dissemination for critical review, and impact on a discipline, practice, or community.

Caring for Caregivers Experiencing Secondary Trauma: A Call to Action.

Secondary traumatic stress (STS) is the emotional duress caused by indirect exposure to distressing events experienced by others. Health care providers are particularly susceptible to secondary stress due to regular exposure to difficult and painful clinical situations that evoke intrinsic empathy necessary to provide effective care. Understanding STS as a normal stress response not only helps to make sense of the symptoms but also suggests a way forward.

Becoming by doing: How women in academic health sciences build a leadership identity through project experiences.

Purpose: Leadership development programs often use institutional projects to activate learning. We explored how project work shaped leadership identity formation in senior women leaders from one academic health science center who enrolled in The Hedwig von Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program.

Materials And Methods: We interviewed ELAM Fellows and conducted a qualitative analysis of transcripts.

Endowed Chairs and Professorships: A New Frontier in Gender Equity.

Purpose: Endowed chairs and professorships are prestigious and financially important awards that symbolize individual faculty recognition. However, data about the gender distribution of these positions are lacking. The purpose of this study was to examine the gender distribution of endowed positions at U.

Advancing Women to Leadership Positions Through Individual Actions and Institutional Reform.

Women in medicine experience disparities in the workplace and in achieving leadership roles. They face challenges related to climate and culture, equitable compensation, work-life integration, opportunities for professional development and advancement, and occupational and systemic factors that can lead to burnout. Without specific resources to support women's development and advancement and promote conducive workplace climates, efforts to recruit, retain, and promote women physicians into leadership roles may be futile.

Leadership Development Projects: Bidirectional Impact on Faculty and Institutions.

Introduction: The Hedwig von Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine program (ELAM) is a national professional development program for women that includes institutional action projects (IAPs). Although benefits of ELAM participation are well documented, the value of the IAPs has not been specifically evaluated. We explored the experience of ELAM Fellows and leaders from one institution to elucidate how institutional factors influence project implementation and outcomes.

Preparing Medical Students to Be Physician Leaders: A Leadership Training Program for Students Designed and Led by Students.

Introduction: Leadership is an area of education and training that is critical to the development of medical providers as health care professionals, yet few medical school curricula offer formal training in this area.

Methods: We designed and implemented a course to develop and enhance the leadership and teamwork skills of first-year medical students to better prepare them for medical practice. Following a systematic literature review to identify leadership core competencies, the Leadership in Medicine Optional Enrichment Elective (OEE) was developed in accordance with the University of Massachusetts Medical School's course guidelines.

A Systematic Review of Development Programs Designed to Address Leadership in Academic Health Center Faculty.

Introduction: To describe Academic Health Center (AHC) faculty leadership development program characteristics and categorize leadership topics into thematic areas suggesting competency domains to guide programmatic curricular development.

Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted (PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature [CINAHL], and Journal Storage [JSTOR databases]). Eligible studies described programs with leadership development intent for faculty in AHCs.

Advancing Professional Development Through a Community of Practice: the New England Network for Faculty Affairs.

Introduction: In an era of competing priorities, funding is increasingly restricted for offices of faculty affairs and development. Opportunities for professional staff to grow and network through attendance at national meetings and to share best practices are limited. We sought to describe a community of practice established to enhance the professional development of faculty affairs professionals and to document its impact.

Restoring Faculty Vitality in Academic Medicine When Burnout Threatens.

Increasing rates of burnout-with accompanying stress and lack of engagement-among faculty, residents, students, and practicing physicians have caused alarm in academic medicine. Central to the debate among academic medicine's stakeholders are oft-competing issues of social accountability; cost containment; effectiveness of academic medicine's institutions; faculty recruitment, retention, and satisfaction; increasing expectations for faculty; and mission-based productivity.The authors propose that understanding and fostering what contributes to faculty and institutional vitality is central to preventing burnout during times of change.

Meeting the Late-Career Needs of Faculty Transitioning Through Retirement: One Institution's Approach.

Problem: Medical school faculty are aging, but few academic health centers are adequately prepared with policies, programs, and resources (PPR) to assist late-career faculty. The authors sought to examine cultural barriers to successful retirement and create alignment between individual and institutional needs and tasks through PPR that embrace the contributions of senior faculty while enabling retirement transitions at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, 2013-2017.

Approach: Faculty 50 or older were surveyed, programs at other institutions and from the literature (multiple fields) were reviewed, and senior faculty and leaders, including retired faculty, were engaged to develop and implement PPR.

Evolution of faculty affairs and faculty development offices in U.S. medical schools: a 10-year follow-up survey.

Purpose: To determine how U.S. MD-granting medical schools manage, fund, and evaluate faculty affairs/development functions and to determine the evolution of these offices between 2000 and 2010.

Perspective: Toward a competency framework for faculty.

Today, faculty in academic medicine face challenges in all three mission areas--research, education, and patient care--and require a broad set of competencies to survive in this changing environment. To support faculty and to design assessments that match new expectations, the authors argue that it is essential to capture the full scope of skills, knowledge, and behaviors necessary for a successful faculty member. Thus, it is timely to explore and define competencies for faculty in academic medicine.

Perspective: Recognizing and rewarding clinical scholarship.

Faculty members in medical schools and academic medical centers are in a constant process of generating new knowledge. The cornerstone of academia--and academic medicine--is scholarship. Traditionally, tenure and/or academic promotion in the professorial ranks is awarded to those who meet institutional criteria in the missions of research, teaching, and service, including patient care.

Functional mentoring: a practical approach with multilevel outcomes.

Introduction: Mentoring is a central component of professional development. Evaluation of "successful" mentoring programs, however, has been limited and mainly focused on measures of satisfaction with the relationship. In today's environment, mentoring programs must produce tangible outcomes to demonstrate success.

A risk stratification tool to assess commercial influences on continuing medical education.

Introduction: Heightened concerns about industry influence on continuing medical education (CME) have prompted tighter controls on the management of commercial funding and conflict of interest. As a result, CME providers must closely monitor their activities and intervene if bias or noncompliance with accreditation standards is likely. Potential for industry influence can be difficult to assess at a stage in the planning process when mitigation strategies can assure balance and content validity.

Empowering junior faculty: Penn State's faculty development and mentoring program.

Empowerment of faculty is essential for academic success. The Junior Faculty Development Program (JFDP), sponsored by the Office of Professional Development of the Penn State College of Medicine, was established in 2003 with the goal of promoting the development and advancement of junior faculty so they can achieve success in their academic careers. The program consists of two components: a curriculum in research, education, clinical practice, and career development, and an individual project completed under the guidance of a senior faculty mentor.

Challenges confronting female surgical leaders: overcoming the barriers.

Background: The number of women reaching top ranks in academic surgery is remarkably low. The purpose of this study was to identify: 1) barriers to becoming a female surgical leader; 2) key attributes that enable advancement and success; and 3) current leadership challenges faced as senior leaders.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews of ten female surgical leaders queried the following dimensions: attributes for success, lessons learned, mistakes, key career steps, the role of mentoring, gender advantages/disadvantages, and challenges.