Comparing Faculty Development Needs of Basic Sciences and Clinical Teachers During Major Curricular Reform at Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz Medical College in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The required competencies of the medical graduates are changing, and by turn those of medical educators are changing as well. The aim of this study was to compare the faculty development (FD) needs of basic sciences and clinical teachers at the College of Medicine, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University during reforming of the curriculum to an integrated student-centred curriculum. This study is a descriptive cross-sectional study that included an online survey for faculty members to assess their FD needs and priorities. The survey questionnaire included questions about the experience of faculty members in teaching in integrated curricula, motivators to share in FD activities, preferred formats of FD activities, self-perceived competencies and needs in different areas of medical education, and selfperceived current commitment to the 12 roles of medical educators. Comparison between the basic sciences and the clinical teachers’ perceived competencies, priorities and commitment to the roles of the medical teacher took place. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare means. The results of the study showed that the highest self-perceived competencies of faculty members were in lecturing (mean = 4.25±0.99) and constructing multiple choice questions (mean = 4.25±0.92). Statistically significant differences were present between basic sciences and clinical teachers in designing integrated courses (p = 0.02) and clinical teaching (p = 0.03). Significant differences were also present in the perceived importance of certain topics in FD programmes, such as course design, blueprinting and simulation. The study concluded that there are differences between basic medical sciences and clinical teachers in the learning needs and the competencies, which should be taken into consideration during planning for FD activities.