Perception of Faculty toward Challenges in Teaching and the Role of Medical Education Workshops in Addressing Them: A Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

Background  A medical teacher has a very complex job profile, wherein they are expected to train a cohort of newly joined medical aspirants to competent health care professionals. The current study was conducted to identify the challenges faced by the faculty members in medical teaching and to assess the perception of teachers on the role of medical education workshops in addressing these challenges. Methods  It was a Mixed Methods study conducted over a period of 9 months from January to September 2021 in a tertiary teaching medical college and hospital of Chengalpet District of Tamil Nadu amongst the faculty members of the teaching medical college and hospital. In the first phase, universal sampling method was employed, wherein all faculty members were asked to fill the online semi-structured questionnaire. In the second phase, purposive sampling was employed, wherein all teachers who have a minimum teaching experience of 3 years and have attended any medical education workshop were included and interviewed using a focus group discussion guide. The quantitative date was analyzed using descriptive statistics, while the qualitative data was analyzed using manual content analysis. Results  In the quantitative phase, 149 faculty members filled the online questionnaire, of which majority were females (52.3%) and were from the clinical departments (63.1%). The manual thematic content analysis of the FGD resulted in the identification of two themes (challenges and utility of workshops). The challenges theme consisted of three categories of Faculty, Students, and Administration, while Utility of workshops theme included two categories of refinement of skills, and suggestions for future Conclusion  In conclusion, lack of teamwork in the department, multiple responsibilities assigned to a single person, and shortage of clinical material during COVID-19 were identified as the main challenges in teaching–learning. The medical education workshops play a significant role in improving the knowledge of various domains of teaching and assessment, introduction of innovations, and ensure better performance of the faculty members.