Even before starting your evening shift you know it's going to be busy. Ambulances are lined up in front of the hospital, and the charge nurse already seems stressed out. The senior Emergency Medicine (EM) resident is standing in the physician office, ready to start her shift as well. You have worked with her a few times during this rotation. She is competent, you trust in her management plans for all her individual patients. Together you both review the patient tracker: a variety of patient presentations ready to be seen, plus an additional 20 patients in the waiting room. Negotiating the learning objective for the shift, the resident indicates that she would like to work on more efficiently managing patient flow and the administration of the emergency department (ED). But…isn't that a skill you just learn from experience? You wonder what evidence-informed strategies might exist for training her for this next step.

In this report, we describe the implementation and short-term outcomes of a Special Populations Consultation Service within the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). With the goal of increasing the quality and quantity of special population (SP) research, the UCLA CTSI Integrating Special Populations program designed a consultation service to support faculty and trainees conducting research involving one of three CTSI “special populations:” children, older adults, and/or minority; underserved; or health disparity populations. The Special Populations Consultation Service offers three types of activities: grant proposal studios, career consultations, and project reviews. UCLA CTSI faculty with appropriate content expertise serve as consultants. We evaluated this consultation model using satisfaction surveys and by quantifying funded grants and reported changes in career goals in SP research. Between 2016 and 2019, the Special Populations Consultation Service provided 59 consultations including 42 grant studios and was used by researchers at all levels from all four UCLA CTSI institutions. Recipients rated the consultations very highly. Funding success rates were 57% following K-level grant studios and 28% following R-level grant studios. Users of project and career consultations commonly attributed career accomplishments in part to their consultation experiences. The SP Consultation Service is feasible and acceptable and appears to enhance careers of investigators studying special populations.

Innovation Concept: Transition to independent practice is challenging and early career physicians are more prone to burnout and error. Despite recommendations for formal mentorship to support physicians, only 43.6% of US academic Emergency Medicine departments have such programs. We describe an innovative mentorship program designed to support these early career physicians and enhance quality of care, career longevity, and wellness. We operationalized mentorship in which experienced, highly regarded, empathic mentors guide mentees in their personal and professional development. Methods: In this program two Emergency Physician mentors were teamed with each newly hired Emergency Physician. Mentees could request their own mentors, and teams were matched on the basis of shared personal and academic interests. Mentors received academic funding and training on good mentorship practice, roles and responsibilities, and feedback. Teams had to meet formally at least twice a year, with additional contact as needed. While mentees set the meeting agenda, teams were also encouraged to address four main areas. These areas were identified from a targeted needs assessment and literature review. They include: 1) clinical process and care, 2) departmental structure and culture, 3) teaching and scholarship, and 4) physician wellness. After meetings, mentees summarized and submitted the topics discussed and reflected on action plans. An oversight committee supported the program. Curriculum, Tool or Material: All nine (9) newly hired physicians joined the program in Fall 2018. As of December 2018, six (6) teams have had formal meetings. They discussed the following areas: clinical processes and care (50%), departmental structure and culture (100%), teaching and scholarship (67%), and physician wellness (100%). Other areas discussed include: academic career, financial planning, and networking. Teams spent 20-60% of the time formulating steps to achieve mentee career goals. They spent 40-60% of the time discussing skills and resources needed. End of year program evaluation will include outcomes such as satisfaction, value, effectiveness, projects, promotions, and awards. The results will shape future program design. Conclusion: We implemented a mentorship program for newly hired Emergency Physicians. As mentorship is integral to successful transition to independent practice, this program model could be highly beneficial to other academic Emergency Medicine departments.

Introduction: In July 2018, Emergency Medicine (EM) transitioned to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada's (RCPSC) Competence by Design (CBD) training framework. In anticipation of CBD implementation, we conducted a nation-wide needs assessment of EM faculty and senior residents to understand their attitudes towards CBD, workplace-based assessments (WBA) and overall educational needs. Methods: A multi-site, cross-sectional digital survey was conducted in winter 2018 with a sample of EM faculty and senior residents across RCPSC EM programs in Canada. Recruitment was via program director nomination. Survey domains included baseline perceptions about CBD, attitudes toward implementation, perceived/prompted and unperceived faculty development needs. Microsoft Excel was used to calculate descriptive statistics. This study was reviewed by the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board.A multi-site, cross-sectional digital survey was conducted in winter 2018 with a sample of EM faculty and senior residents across RCPSC EM programs in Canada. Recruitment was via program director nomination. Survey domains included baseline perceptions about CBD, attitudes toward implementation, perceived/prompted and unperceived faculty development needs. Microsoft Excel was used to calculate descriptive statistics. This study was reviewed by the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board. Results: Between February-April 2018, 47 participants (40 faculty, 7 residents) completed the survey (58.8% response rate). Most respondents (89.4%) thought learner feedback should be provided on each shift; 55.3% believed they provided adequate feedback. Time constraints, learner disinterest and fear of assessment repercussions were the top three barriers to providing good feedback. A majority of respondents (78.7%) thought that the ED provided above average opportunities for direct observation and 91.5% were confident of incorporating WBAs into their practice. 44.7% reported that CBD will not impact patient care; 17.0% perceived it may have a negative impact. 55.3% felt that CBD will lead to improved feedback for trainees. The top areas for faculty development were: feedback delivery, completing WBAs, resident promotion decisions, and receiving feedback on teaching. Only 25.5% were interested in learning about CBD, although the average of correct responses on the CBD knowledge test was 44.6%. Conclusion: EM is well-situated to transition to CBD given clinicians’ positive attitudes towards feedback, direct observation, WBAs, and opportunities for direct observation. Threats to CBD implementation are concerns about effects on patient care and trainee education, and skepticism regarding effects on feedback quality. Faculty development should concentrate on further developing clinical teaching and supervision skills, focusing on feedback and WBAs.

Innovation Concept: Emergency medicine physicians must maintain a broad knowledge base and procedural skillset while fulfilling their academic roles as teachers, researchers and administrators. Most academic departments do not have a regular, affordable, formal continuing professional development (CPD) and faculty development (FD) curriculum for their staff. We set out to design and implement a novel continuous practice enhancement program to address this issue. Methods: Strategic planning by the Ottawa academic Department of EM identified CPD and FD as priorities. A program was created to support high quality, monthly CPD/FD courses provided by physicians. We had 5 goals: (1) enhance clinical and academic skills, (2) disseminate group best practices, (3) sustain skills in high impact/low frequency scenarios, (4) support physician academic careers, and (5) acquire new procedural skills. A CPD/FD Committee composed of local meded experts and experienced clinical teachers was tasked with overseeing the creation and evaluation of these sessions. Curriculum, Tool or Material: The longitudinal curriculum was informed by perceived needs (group survey), ascribed needs (M&M rounds, physician metrics and departmental leadership priorities) and participant feedback. The committee identified local experts to present on their areas of expertise in order to promote group best practice. Topics to-date have included clinical skills updates, teaching and coaching strategies and academic career planning. A comprehensive monthly simulation-based curriculum was rolled out simultaneously to give participants the opportunity to develop crisis resource management and critical care skills. Except for sessions requiring advanced equipment or cadavers, sessions are financed by academic funds and free for participants. Conclusion: Faculty academic learning and engagement is an important goal and participation in this curriculum is reviewed at each physician's annual reappointment. To-date, 18 physicians (21% of our group) have presented topics and 92% of physicians have participated in at least one session with 63% having attended three or more. Evaluations have been overwhelmingly positive, and a recent survey identified the CPD/FD program as a significant contributor to our physicians’ wellness. We introduced an innovative, structured CPD/FD program in response to perceived and ascribed needs of our physicians and departmental leadership. Our successful CPD/FD curriculum represents a model for other departments who are considering similar initiatives.

We assessed clinicians’ continuing professional development (CPD) needs at family practice teaching clinics in the province of Quebec. Our mixed methodology design comprised an environmental scan of training programs at four family medicine departments, an expert panel to determine priority clinical situations for senior care, a supervisors survey to assess their perceived CPD needs, and interviews to help understand the rationale behind their needs. From the environmental scan, the expert panel selected 13 priority situations. Key needs expressed by the 352 survey respondents (36% response rate) included behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, polypharmacy, depression, and cognitive disorders. Supervisors explained that these situations were sometimes complex to diagnose and manage because of psychosocial aspects, challenges of communicating with patients and families, and coordination of interprofessional teams. Supervisors also reported more CPD needs in long-term and home care, given the presence of caregivers and complexity of senior care in these settings.

Introduction/Innovation Concept: Introduction of a new simulation program including structured debriefing represents a substantial challenge. Debriefing performance is critical for facilitating learning in simulation. However, many faculty members are unfamiliar with the debriefing process. Faculty receives no training for conducting impactful and safe debriefs. Consequently, they are uncomfortable and often disengaged. We designed, implemented, and evaluated an innovative faculty-debriefing curriculum. Do professional development efforts in simulation debriefing teaching result in improved engagement in simulation teaching by faculty, increased comfort with simulation teaching, and an acceptance of a critical thinking framework for simulation teaching? Methods: We designed the curriculum to include the flipped classroom and deliberate practice models. Participants (n=26; 42% of Emergency Medicine Faculty) were pre-circulated course materials, and then attended a full day course to introduce the simulation setting, the equipment, and two practice scenarios. Each scenario was followed by a group debrief. Twenty-one participants (80.7% response rate) completed pre and post course surveys; we analyzed the data using descriptive statistics. Curriculum, Tool, or Material: Results: Descriptive findings from a pre-course and post-course survey were conducted. Prior to participating in the innovation, 75% had participated in simulation teaching at Western, but only 30% of this faculty being comfortable with this teaching format. 65% of participants had no formal simulation training and 95% had no training in debriefing. Results of the post-course survey revealed 100% satisfaction with the flipped classroom model; and 48% and 52% were extremely likely and very likely to attend future faculty development courses respectively. 100% of participants felt comfortable in participating in debriefing post simulation teaching with 50% feeling comfortable to do this independently without a co-debriefer. 100% of participants felt that the critical thinking framework that was presented in the course for a debriefing model would translate into their clinical teaching in the future. Conclusion: Faculty development has a critical role to play in promoting academic excellence and innovation. Faculty development programs must respond to the changes in medical education. This education project integrated a unique model of learning for faculty, engaged faculty, and increased their comfort level for teaching in simulated setting and utilizing structured debriefing.

Morale and faculty development are closely related. The agricultural economics profession must decide what it is about. There is room to practice the principle of comparative advantage and allow a degree of specialization in teaching, extension, and research. To continue in the role of an applied discipline, there must also be an opportunity for the young professional to establish rapport with, and understanding of, the private sector and the policy-making arena. If that is to happen, there must be encouragement in the institutional setting and by faculty colleagues who respect the importance of investment in building rapport and in establishing credibility. If that environment is present, morale should be good and faculty development will occur.