Educating Educators: Exploring Advancements in Developing Faculty Competencies in Assessment
“I realized that while it's easy to talk about outcomes-based medical education as a product, driving it backward into curriculum and teaching methods is far more complex,” said Asma Said Al Balushi, MD, ArBEM, MHPE, an emergency medicine consultant at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital in Oman. “It requires deeper understanding and more refined skills to do—and to teach.”
One of the major challenges for outcomes-based graduate medical education (GME) is to design assessment programs that facilitate the longitudinal professional development of residents and fellows. How can medical educators best utilize and incorporate advancements and innovations in the assessment of learners?
Recognizing the importance of supporting faculty members in this vital process, the ACGME periodically holds innovative, interactive courses to assist educators in addressing this challenge.
The courses are designed to help participants develop the foundations of competency-based medical education and learn to build effective assessment programs. Participants engage through discussion and interactive workshops that include theory bursts on essential content, as well as small-group application exercises. They also practice direct observation and feedback skills in a simulated environment.
“While I was in the course, the picture finally felt clear,” noted Dr. Al Balushi.
Topics covered in the five-day course include assessment, direct observation, feedback, remediation/working with struggling learners, and group process/decision-making.
The Full Course
There are variations of these courses in different formats, including the ACGME’s Faculty Development Hub program, but all such courses are all based on the ACGME’s “full” Developing Faculty Competencies in Assessment course, which is held periodically in Chicago, Illinois. The most recent, multiday iteration took place in early April 2025, hosting medical educators from across the US, as well as from Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Taiwan for five days of interactive learning.
The first part focused on outcomes-based education, assessing the ACGME Core Competencies, and feedback. Specific topics included conceptual frameworks; specific tools/methods to assess the Competencies of Professionalism, Interpersonal and Communication Skills, Practice-Based Learning and Improvement, and Systems-Based Practice; and feedback techniques. Participants explored these areas through discussion, group work, interactive exercises, and video review.
A key portion of the course focused on direct observation, from improving quality and frequency of direct observation to using lessons learned in individual and group simulations. There were opportunities for participants to practice giving feedback to learners in simulated environments (with standardized residents and patients). These sessions were recorded, which participants can later use to review and reflect.
“The video-recorded feedback sessions, combined with peer review and provided tools, will be instrumental in training our faculty members for competency-based medical education,” said Consuelo C. Cagande, MD, DFAACAP, DFAPA, director, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.
The course also provided opportunities to learn about structured and systematic approaches to assisting struggling learners and developing individualized learning plans.
The final segment of the course focused on group process, where the previous sessions helped fuel the discussion on effective Clinical Competency Committees and Program Evaluation Committees.
Closing sessions looked at next steps for participants’ own assessment systems, integrating the new and reaffirmed information and perspectives received during the previous six days’ worth of learning, group work, and discussions.
Assessing the Assessment Course
For many participants, their experiences in the course provided new insights into assessment and an impetus to innovate.
“I attended the course because outcome-based medical education had always felt like a puzzle with a missing piece—and I wanted to complete the picture,” said Dr. Al Balushi. “I expected clarity on outcome-based medical education—and I got it. I also learned that it goes far beyond the curriculum to reshape the entire educational system.”
Instructors also gain takeaways from leading sessions and hearing from participants’ experiences.
“I learn something new every time I participate, thanks to the thoughtful, real-world insights shared by our participants,” said Sylvia Botros-Brey, MD, MSCI, an associate professor in the Departments of Urology and Medical Education, assistant dean for Faculty at UT Health San Antonio, and one of the April course instructors. “Their perspectives consistently enrich our discussions and deepen our collective understanding of competency-based medical education.”
“Participants always ask thought-provoking questions, and I end up learning from them as they learn from me,” noted Karen Warburton, MD, FASN, FACP, the associate designated institutional official for Trainee Advancement at University of Virginia Health and another course instructor. “I especially like the interactive nature of the teaching set-up.”
“The curriculum is so important that I have applied to make our institution an ACGME Faculty Development Hub,” Dr. Warburton added.
“I love that participants see this course as a jumping-off point,’ said Kate Hatlak, EdD, the director of Faculty Development and Special Projects at the ACGME. “It’s so rewarding to hear what previous course participants have been able to accomplish after attending the course, whether it’s revamping their program of assessment, incorporating the direct observation and feedback workshop into their own program or institution, or becoming a Faculty Development Hub to continue the learning.”
The next “full” course will be held in Chicago in a split format, taking place July 23-25 and October 15-17. Registration means participants are expected to attend both sessions. Registration for this course closes on or before June 27.
This post is a part of the ACGME Blog series “Educating Educators,” which focuses on developing faculty competencies in assessment for clinical educators. The goal of this series is to share resources from the ACGME’s Developing Faculty Competencies in Assessment and related courses from its Faculty Development Hubs. The series will also share inspiring stories from Hubs, demonstrating the importance and impact of this growing initiative.