The Evolving Role of Faculty in Health Professions Education: A 20-Year Journey

Over the past two decades, the role of faculty in health professions education has undergone significant transformation. Current age teachers are required to wear multiple hats. Teacher, mentor, researcher, clinician, administrator, curriculum designer, program evaluator are just a few. Let us delve into factors which are driving this change.

a. Advancements in Medical Knowledge and Technology: The rapid growth of medical knowledge and technological innovations demands that faculty stay current. New treatments, diagnostic tools, and research findings necessitate continuous learning.

b. Changing Student Demographics and Learning Styles: Today’s learners are diverse, with varying backgrounds, ages, and learning preferences. Traditional lecture-based teaching may not suffice. Faculty must adapt teaching methods. Active learning, case-based discussions, and flipped classrooms enhance student engagement. Training in pedagogical approaches is crucial.

c. Interprofessional Education (IPE): Collaborative practice is essential in healthcare. Faculty need to prepare students for teamwork across disciplines.

d. Quality Assurance and Accreditation Standards: Accrediting bodies emphasize outcomes, assessment, and program evaluation. Faculty play a pivotal role in meeting these standards. Faculty should understand accreditation criteria. Faculty development should focus on assessment methods, curriculum mapping, and continuous improvement to work on continuous quality improvement.

e. Patient-Centred Care and Communication Skills: Healthcare is shifting toward patient-centred models from a predominant biomedical model. Doctors of today and tomorrow need to focus on humanistic approaches to health care. The onus of training lies on the faculty. Faculty must teach communication, empathy, and cultural competence, probably going beyond the prescribed curriculum.

f. Research and Scholarship Expectations: Institutions value faculty research as it brings institutional recognition. It is also mandated by accreditation requirements. Research could be quite challenging for faculty who are keen to be identified primarily as clinical teachers and not researchers. In this conflict of roles, providing resource support such as research training, funding , incentivising conference participation and supporting publications goes a long way in encouraging quality research.

g. Globalization and Health Equity: India is one of the largest exporter of health professionals – doctors, dentists, nurses, physiotherapists etc. This means that our health care professions should be aware of global health disparities and international standards in health care delivery. Faculty will have to prepare students to be culturally competent, be sensitive to diversity, equity and inclusion of different population groups.

With such high demands being placed, faculty are at risk of burnout. Faculty well-being, work load balance, training and protected time should be prioritised.