Background: The purpose of this project was to improve pediatric primary care medical education by providing faculty development for full-time and community-based faculty who teach general pediatrics to medical students and/or residents in ambulatory pediatric community-based settings. Funding for the program came through an interagency agreement with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
Methods: A train-the-trainer model was used to train 112 scholars who could teach skills to general pediatric faculty across the nation. The three scholar groups focused on community-based ambulatory teaching; educational scholarship; and executive leadership.
Results: Scholars felt well prepared to deliver faculty development programs in their home institutions and regions. They presented 599 workshops to 7989 participants during the course of the contract. More than 50% of scholars assumed positions of leadership, and most reported increased support for medical education in their local and regional environments.
Conclusions: This national pediatric faculty development program pioneered in the development of a new training model and should guide training of new scholars and advanced and continuing training for those who complete a basic program.