A needs assessment for faculty development at two medical colleges of Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi

Objective: To identify the perceptions of the faculty about their current level of pedagogical skills and their desire to improve these skills in future.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at two medical colleges of Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi from March 1, 2015 to April 30, 2015. A re-validated questionnaire was used comprising three parts; 1) Demographic details, 2) Fifteen educational domains each having 2 statements, first indicating minimum knowledge of domain and second showing maximum. Each statement had two 9-point anchored scales, first indicating current knowledge and second, desired knowledge of the faculty. 3) Factors which are important considerations for attending educational workshops. The data was analyzed by statistical software SPSS 17.

Results: The response rate was 54%. The mean age of faculty was 43.42 ± 8.41, largest proportion being assistant professors (85; 47%). For all educational domains, faculty perceived their knowledge to be moderately high (Mean = 5.9 +/- 1.8 to 6.8 +/- 1.7 and Median: 6 to 7). However, they desired to improve their pedagogical skills further in all domains (Mean = 8.2 +/- 1.1 to 8.4 +/- 1.1, Median: 9), p-values < 0.001. Nearly 95% teachers are willing to attend faculty development workshops.

Conclusion: Our faculty perceives their current pedagogical skills to be moderately high. However, they would like to improve these skills to a higher level in all educational domains.