The AO Faculty Development Alignment Project has reached its peak: At the AO Foundation Platform Meeting in April, the Clinical Divisions (CDs) agreed on aligning all Faculty Development Programs and creating a common pathway for all AO faculty members. This article summarizes the aligned faculty pathway and the corresponding Faculty Development Programs.

 

"This agreement will not only free up a lot of resources that were used in the past to develop separate programs for the Clinical Divisions (CD), it will also enhance the transparency of our faculty management", says Kodi Kojima, chairperson of the AOTrauma Education Commission, who participated in the Education Platform Meeting this April in Zürich. His counterpart in AOSpine, Mike Grevitt agrees: "Having the same Faculty Development Program for all CDs makes a lot of sense, as we all apply the same educational principles regardless of the learning content."

 

 

The pathway and the programs

The aligned Faculty Development Program combines the best elements of the former CD-specific programs. Big parts of the new "Chairperson Education Program (CEP)", for instance, are taken from the former "AOSpine Training for Chairpersons (T4C)", whereas the "Faculty Education Program (FEP)" originates from the "Tips for Trainers (T4T)" originally used in AOTrauma, AOSpine, and AOCMF. The new aligned faculty pathway consists of three main levels that are based on the three major faculty roles in the AO: faculty, chairperson, and educational leader. For each level, there is a corresponding Faculty Development Program. Before becoming eligible for these programs, the candidates must have gone through the official faculty application process of their CD.

 

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Faculty Education Program (FEP)

The FEP equips new faculty members who have an upcoming faculty assignment with the skills required to successfully give a lecture, facilitate a small group discussion, or run a practical exercise at an AO educational event. This program also introduces the participants to the "7 AO Principles of Education" and how they can be applied to the different teaching methods.

Program duration: 5 weeks online—1.5 days face-to-face—3 weeks online.

 

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Chairperson Education Program (CEP)

The CEP is targeted at experienced faculty members who have an upcoming chairperson assignment and already completed the FEP, or equivalent as defined by each Clinical Division. The program introduces the principles of instructional design, faculty management as well as assessment and evaluation.

Program duration: 5 weeks online—1.5 days face-to-face—3 weeks online.

 

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Leaders Education Program (LEP)

Highly experienced faculty members and chairpersons who get elected into important governance or education roles (eg, Education Commission members, Education Taskforce members, Regional Education Team members) should attend the LEP that teaches important leadership skills enabling them to lead teams effectively and manage educational projects. If there are prospective Regional Education Team members or Educational Advisors among the participants, the LEP will contain the optional modules "Regional Education Teams Training" (RETT) and/or "Training for Educational Advisors" (T4EA) which are targeted at these participants.

Program duration: 5 weeks online—2 days face-to-face—(+0.5 for optional modules).

 

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Coaching Program (CP)

In addition to the programs for the three main levels,  the CP is a program that teaches experienced faculty members how to coach their faculty peers by providing them with appropriate feedback on their teaching performance. The CP is always attached to a clinical course where the new coaches learn how to apply their coaching skills. At the moment, the CP is only offered by AOTrauma.

Program duration: 3 weeks online—4-5 days face-to-face (including the clinical course).

 

 

 

In contrast to the aforementioned programs, the Faculty Training is not an aligned or standardized Faculty Development Program. It is usually an extended faculty precourse preceding a clinical course conveying some practical tips to the faculty of that course. Faculty members can learn about different teaching methods and/or get the opportunity to do a test run of their lecture, small group discussion, or practical exercise. Usually, these trainings do not run for more than half a day and their completion does not qualify the participants for any further educational roles.

 

Adaptation and implementation

The aligned Faculty Development Programs provide a general framework but still allow for adaptation based on the CDs' or regional needs. In the CEP session "Course planning", the AOSpine participants, for instance, learn how to apply the AOSpine curriculum framework, while the AOTrauma participants learn how to apply the different AOTrauma course templates.