Description of the simulation: At the workshop, 3 groups of participants rotated through 3 role-playing scenarios. In each scenario, all members of each group took on the same role.
| WORKSHOP SCENARIO | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| Research context in the DFM at AOK University | AOK is a medium-sized, research-intensive university located on the border between the United States and Canada. The mandate of AOK’s DFM is to increase research output (grants and publications) by 20% over the next 3 y. The department is considering a number of options to reach this goal. A primary focus—and therefore the focus of the workshop—will be to engage existing and new clinician-teachers more actively in the research enterprise. It is understood that there are full-time researchers, but AOK’s DFM requires more output from its clinician-teachers. Currently, AOK specifies that clinician-teachers spend a minimum of 10% of time on research. However, many see their role solely as clinician and teacher, and they report that all of their time is taken up with these responsibilities. Further, clinician-teachers report a lack of clarity around what activities constitute research and the level of productivity required for promotion. Some report feeling disconnected from the research enterprise in the department |
| Role-playing scenarios | |
| • Clinician-teacher | The clinician-teacher role at your institution, despite what the name suggests, encompasses 3 roles: clinical work, training of medical students and residents, and research. At the last departmental meeting, you and your colleagues got talking about how difficult it is to incorporate research into your already-heavy clinical and teaching loads. How can you and your colleagues become more engaged in research? |
| • Department chair | In this role, you are responsible for all aspects of the department, including administration, finances, clinical teaching, and research. You are accountable to the dean of the medical school. You are charged with increasing clinician-teachers’ participation in research. How can your department facilitate clinician-teachers’ increased engagement in research? |
| • Mentor | You are mentoring a newly appointed clinician-teacher whose role requires that 10% of the clinician-teacher’s time is spent on research. The remainder of the clinician-teacher’s time is taken up by clinical and teaching responsibilities. The clinician-teacher is seeking your advice on becoming involved in research. What would you tell the clinician-teacher is the most productive way of engaging in research? |
AOK—Acme Optimal Knowledge, DFM—Department of Family Medicine.