Program for Faculty Development in the Faculty of Health Sciences

Lessons from the past, directions for the future

Abstract

The Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) has long believed in the power of faculty development. Arising originally in the 1970s to serve the need of upskilling physician teachers within the new medical school, the McMaster University FHS Program for Faculty Development (PFD) has helped to translate the latest and greatest health professions education (HPE) innovations into faculty action for decades. This chapter offers a written account of the PFD based on an oral history generated by the living directors and assistant deans that have served to develop, foster, and maintain the FHS PFD to date. Key themes from PFD evolution include faculty development as a vehicle for curricular change, the application of evidence, a mechanism for supporting faculty leaders, and an organizational mandate. The chapter ends with a review of present-day shifts in the PFD brought about by amalgamation and the global pandemic and concludes with a synthesis of five key tenets to guide the PFD’s future.