MedEdPORTAL: Changing the Tide for Promotion and Tenure - AAMC

The DilemmaAcademia is a culture of creditScholarly works represent a common type of creditThe accumulation of scholarly works leads to facultyadvancement and other rewardsThere is no shared definition of scholarly work2012 AAMC Annual Meeting

Broadening the Definition of Scholarship19902012 AAMC Annual Meeting

GEA Consensus Conference20072012 AAMC Annual Meeting

MedEdPORTAL (www.mededportal.org)MedEdPORTAL promotes educational scholarship andcollaboration by facilitating the open exchange of peer-reviewedhealth education teaching and assessment resources.

MedEdPORTAL Peer ReviewDesigned to Mirror Traditional Scholarly Journal Peer ReviewMedEdPORTAL:Appoints an Editor and an Editorial BoardMaintains a peer review policyFollows a rigorous peer review processUses invited expert reviewers to conduct all reviews2012 AAMC Annual Meeting

MedEdPORTAL Editorial Decisions(since inception)Rejected35%RevisionsRequired46%RevisionsRequired -Accepted43%Accepted19%RevisionsRequired -Rejected3%2012 AAMC Annual Meeting

Usage Reports

Percentage of Faculty Who Agreed that PromotionExpectations Were Clear/ReasonableFaculty Type Group ComparisonAll FacultyBasic ScienceFacultyClinical M.D.Facultyχ² sig.Clarity within:Teaching and education 66.4 72 66.3 ***Research and scholarship 71.2 82.5 67 ***Patient care and client services 61.7 n/a n/a n/aInstitutional service 53.7 60.1 52.6 ***Reasonableness within:Teaching and education 73.9 76.9 74.2 ***Research and scholarship 65.5 77.9 60.8 ***Patient care and client services 68.2 n/a n/a n/aInstitutional service 61.2 66.5 60.1 ***Source: 2009 AAMC Faculty Forward Survey2012 AAMC Annual Meeting

2011 Study of Nontraditional ScholarshipDo MedEdPORTAL publications “count” towards promotion andtenure?2012 AAMC Annual Meeting

2011 Study of Nontraditional ScholarshipResearch Questions1. To what extent does a MedEdPORTAL publication contribute tofaculty promotion in academic rank and/or the award of tenure?2. Is there a relationship between the emphasis the medical schoolhas placed on traditional research and the extent to which theinstitution values MedEdPORTAL publications as meaningfulcontributions to promotion and tenure decisions?2012 AAMC Annual Meeting

MethodologyDesign– Observational research. Cross-sectional survey design.Population– The study population was comprised of all authors who have published aresource through MedEdPORTAL since its inception until 2010Sample– Purposive sample: full-time and part-time authors from LCME accreditedmedical schoolsInstrumentation– AAMC 25 item questionnaire (Dillman, 2007)2012 AAMC Annual Meeting14

Response Rate326 valid responses39.1% response rateReceived Total PercentSurvey Respondents 326 833 39.1%Total Medical Schools 94 148 63.5%U.S. Medical Schools 89 131 67.9%!Canadian Medical Schools 5 17 29.4%2012 AAMC Annual Meeting15

Findings: Research Question #1Scholarly products such as MedEdPORTAL publications appear to beaccepted at some but not all institutions.Medical schools do not have consistent policies or practices thatrecognize nontraditional scholarly works.“To your knowledge, does your institution have a policy explicitly stating that peerreviewededucational resources (such as resources like MedEdPORTAL publications)would contribute to promotion and tenure decisions?”NumberPercentYes 159 49.5No 70 21.8Not Sure 92 28.72012 AAMC Annual Meeting16

Findings: Research Question #1Unique Medical School Responses to Question “To your knowledge, does your institutionhave a policy explicitly stating that peer-reviewed educational resources (such as resourceslike MedEdPORTAL publications) would contribute to promotion and tenure decisions?”NumberPercentYes or Yes/Not Sure 33 35.9No or No/Not Sure 22 23.9Yes/No or Yes/No/Not Sure or Not Sure 37 40.22012 AAMC Annual Meeting17

Findings: Research Question #2There is no significant relationship between the emphasis the medicalschool has placed on traditional research and the extent to whichfaculty perceive the institution values MedEdPORTAL publications asmeaningful contributions to promotion and tenure decisions.r = -0.26 (p = 0.07)2012 AAMC Annual MeetingCandler Dissertation18

School PerspectivesMaria Wamsley, MDUniversity of California, San FranciscoMichael Fitch, MD, PhDWake Forest School of MedicinePenprapa Klinkhachorn, DVM, PhD, MSWest Virginia University Health Sciences CenterJeffrey M. Lyness, MDUniversity of Rochester Medical CenterDebra Litzelman, MDIndiana University School of Medicine2012 AAMC Annual Meeting

Questions from the Audience2012 AAMC Annual Meeting

Questions for the Panel1. What is the relative value of traditional vs. nontraditionalscholarly works within your institutional faculty tracks?2. How does a nontraditional scholarly work compare to a top-/medium-/low-tier journal publication? To online journals?3. Do your institutions have written policies regardingnontraditional scholarly works?4. What could MedEdPORTAL do to facilitate recognition ofnontraditional scholarship?5. How will the definition and recognition of scholarship changein the future?2012 AAMC Annual Meeting