Western Journal of Emergency Medicine: Integrating Emergency Care with Population Health

Learning Objectives: The goal of this study is to characterize the roles, responsibilities, and support for MedEd fellowship directors.

Introduction: Despite Medical Education (MedEd) Fellowships increasing in number, the position of MedEd fellowship director remains poorly defined.

Methods: We developed and piloted an anonymous electronic survey, consisting of 32 Likert-type and free response items, that we distributed via the CORD MedEd Fellowship Community of Practice listserv. We used descriptive statistics to analyze data from items with discrete answer choices. Chi-squared testing was used to evaluate differences between programs. Using a constructivist paradigm, we performed a thematic analysis of free response data.

Results: Thirty-five of 44 MedEd fellowship directors (80%) completed the survey. Thirty-seven percent of respondents were female (13/35). Fifty-one percent earned Master’s degrees in education and 37% completed a MedEd fellowship. Many respondents held other education leadership roles, including program director (PD) (26%), associate/assistant PD (26%), vice chair (23%), and clerkship director (9%). Sixty-three percent (22/35) receive support, including clinical buy-down (18/22, 82%), administrative (11/22, 50%), and salary (1/22, 5%). There was no difference (X2 (2, N=33) = 2.07, p = 0.36) between support and type of hospital (community, academic, or county). Responsibilities of MedEd fellowship directors include education (median 35% of time), administration (25%), research mentorship (20%), and recruitment (14%). Priorities of MedEd fellowship directors fall into three categories, including fellow, fellowship, and institution (Table 1). Factors promoting and inhibiting success of fellowship programs are presented in Table 2.

Conclusions: This study provides insight into the position of the MedEd fellowship director. We hope it will allow for role clarity as well as national and local advocacy as the demand for MedEd fellowship directors increases.