Faculty development programmes in medical education in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: a systematic review

Abstract

Background: Faculty development is essential for enhancing medical education. The World Health Organization in 2013, promoted faculty development based on moderate quality of evidence and conditional recommendations. Aims: To conduct systematic review of faculty development programmes in medical education in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), during 2013 to 2020. Methods: A systematic research was conducted in PubMed, Google Scholar, EMBASE and ERIC using appropriate Boolean operators. Articles in English from the EMR, explicitly mentioning “faculty development” in medical education, in the ti-tle, abstract or anywhere in the text, during 2013–2020 were included. Results: Two thousand three hundred and forty-seven (2347) articles were retrieved, of which 54 were considered for further analysis based on Kirkpatrick’s Model for program evaluation. Articles were grouped into 4 themes: evaluation of new interventions (n = 21), evaluation of already implemented interventions (n = 13), needs assessment (n = 16), and recommendations and guidelines (n = 4). It was revealed that 23 studies addressed level 1 (reaction), while 4 studies addressed level 4 (results) of the Kirkpatrick’s Model of program evaluation. Conclusion: Faculty development should be need-based and provide hands-on training. Longitudinal programmes are recommended for maximum benefits.