Perception of faculty in the community health sciences colleges towards simulation-based education in clinical nutrition undergraduate practical courses

BACKGROUND

Simulation now is widely used for training and education in different fields including healthcare education. Medicine and healthcare students can be trained in a secure, efficient, and engaging setting by Simulation-based Education (SBE). Therefore, this study aimed to assess the perception of faculty members in the community health departments towards SBE to be used in practical subjects for clinical nutrition undergraduate courses.

METHOD

This cross-sectional survey was conducted among community health sciences faculty members. The perception was assessed using a self-administered questionnaire that included three sections.

RESULTS

This questionnaire was completed by 125 faculty members, of whom 36 (28.8%) were male and 89 (71.2%) were female. Overall, faculty members had positive perceptions, with a mean score of 3.86 ± 0.74, but a high level of anxiety toward SBE, with a mean score of 3.42 ± 0.75. There was a statistically significant difference between the responses of the faculty members based on the training they received in simulation (P = 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The study results indicate that community health sciences faculty members' perception of SBE in Saudi Arabia is generally positive. However, the results show high levels of anxiety among faculty members toward SBE.

Comparing the Familiarity of the Basic and Clinical Faculty Members of Iran University of Medical Sciences with the Principles of Digital Professionalism

Background

Due to the changing conditions of education, research, and treatment in the world, especially the recent pandemic, and more use of virtual space, there is a need for evaluation of digital professionalism in faculty members as the most influential people who have a direct and deep impact on the next generation.

Methods

In this analytical cross-sectional study that was conducted in 2023 on 149 faculty members of Iran University of Medical Sciences, they were invited to participate in the study through various methods (SMS, E-mail, and media messages). The link to the Persian standardized questionnaire was made available for participants. If a person received less than 70% of the score in each area, he/she would receive solutions to improve his/her situation in that area at the end of answering the questions. The self-administered questionnaire has 5 fields and 33 questions. Maximum scores were 10 points. Spearman and Pearson correlation coefficients and statistical tests consisting of chi-square, t-test, Mann-Whitney U, one-way ANOVA, and Kruskal-Wallis H were used in the analysis.

Results

The mean overall score of people in principles of digital professionalism was 0.8. Women and basic sciences faculties had a significantly better status than men and clinical faculties in the principles of digital professionalism as a whole (P = 0.001 and P = 0.049, respectively). The domain of "knowledge management and information literacy" had significantly lower scores in professors in comparison with other degree (instructors, assistant professors, and associate professors (P = 0.039).

Conclusion

The mean score of the principles of digital professionalism is acceptable at 80%. Coherent, timely, and up-to-date training to ensure the effective, safe and appropriate use of digital technology, especially for men, professors and clinical faculty members who had a lower score than others, should be done.

The perceived leaders' authentic leadership, knowledge sharing within the team, and faculty members' creativity: A cross-sectional online survey in nursing academia

BACKGROUND

There hasn't been much recent research on leaders' authentic leadership, knowledge sharing within the team, and faculty members' creativity.

AIM

This study examined the perceived variables and predictors of academic nursing leaders' authentic leadership by their nursing faculty members, knowledge sharing within the team, and nursing faculty members' own creativity.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional design using a survey instrument was employed to answer the research questions.

METHODS

A convenience snowball sample of 105 academic nursing faculty members who worked at various universities in Jordan was recruited.

RESULTS

Academic nursing leaders' authentic leadership, knowledge sharing within the team, and nursing faculty members' creativity were perceived high by nursing faculty members. The highest and lowest means of the three concepts were reported. As evidenced by correlations, knowledge sharing within the team related to nursing faculty members' creativity without affecting academic nursing leaders' authentic leadership. The perceived academic nursing leaders' authentic leadership didn't predict knowledge sharing within the team or faculty members' creativity.

CONCLUSIONS

The current research fills critical voids in the reviewed literature. The results augment nursing leadership knowledge in academic settings. Academic nursing leaders' authentic leadership didn't predict knowledge sharing within the team or faculty members' creativity. These findings raise the flag; authentic nursing leadership should be synergized in conducive academic environments with other factors that may promote nursing faculty members' creativity, such as psychological safety and team environment.

Does the COVID-19 Pandemic Affect Excellence in Academic Research? a Study of Science and Engineering Faculty Members in China

Research excellence is one of the key missions of universities and an important engine for socio-economic development. However, the outbreak of COVID-19 has affected academic research in many ways. This study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the research performance of science and engineering faculty members in China's top research universities. It is found that the pandemic caused a decline in the numbers and quality of published articles, and the effects persisted over time. The negative effect of the pandemic on research excellence was more pronounced in the older faculty groups and departments of science. In addition, the pandemic has harmed international research collaborations among academics, which is likely to obstruct research excellence in the long run. In the end, this paper proposes several policy recommendations to reinvigorate universities' capacity for research innovation in the post-pandemic era.

Nurse administrators as the cause of moral distress among nurse educators: A qualitative research study

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate the causes of moral distress among nurse educators.

BACKGROUND

Educational administration factors can cause moral distress among nursing faculty members. Despite this, limited attention has been paid to addressing these factors. Highlighting and addressing these factors is now an essential element of organizational success.

METHODS

A descriptive phenomenological design was used to explore nursing faculty members' lived experiences of nursing faculty members of moral distress. Qualitative data were collected from 10 faculty members using a semi-structured interview framework.

RESULTS

Five themes emerged a) administrative support deficit, b) administrator-faculty member rapport, c) sense of powerlessness, d) marginalization in the decision-making process, and E) being forced to work in opposition to the nursing profession value system.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides common themes as they pertain to causes of moral distress in academic settings. Nurse administrators can play a vital role in preventing moral distress by providing management that demonstrates human caring values and advocates for nursing faculty. Preventing moral distress in academic settings is essential to reinforce and exemplify an ideal learning environment for nursing educators and nursing students.

Strategies to increase social capital and interaction of faculty members of medical universities

BACKGROUND

Social participation and group interaction are the basic and expected indicators of serving in the job of the faculty. Some improvements are needed for universities and professors in this area, which they can be better identified by studying the main beneficiaries. In this regard, this study was aimed to identify strategies to increase social capital and interaction of medical universities' faculty members.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This qualitative study which was a qualitative content analysis type was performed on 22 faculty members of Isfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz, Iran, Army, Shahrekord, Sabzevar, Arak, and Khomein universities through semi-structured interviews and purposive sampling. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

RESULTS

According to finding, in order to improve the social interactions of medical universities' faculty members, there were 2 factors and 8 main categories including organizational factors ("organizational dynamics," "organizational security," "standardization of selection and evaluation," "value creation," and "establishing a compensation system") and individual social factors ("education and social programs," "personal skills and beliefs promotion," and "personality and learning").

CONCLUSIONS

The obtained strategies in this study to improve social capital and group interactions and group participation of medical universities' faculty members can be planned and implemented by managers and can be used for faculty members themselves.

Awareness of security and privacy settings in video conferencing apps among faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 has forced many schools and universities worldwide, including Saudi Arabia, to move from traditional face-to-face learning to online learning. Most online learning activities involve the use of video conferencing apps to facilitate synchronous learning sessions. While some faculty members were not accustomed to using video conferencing apps, they had no other choice than to jump on board regardless of their readiness, one of which involved security and privacy awareness. On the other hand, video conferencing apps users face a number of security and privacy threats and vulnerabilities, many of which rely on human factors to be exploited. In this study, we used survey data from 307 faculty members at 43 Saudi Arabian universities to determine the level of awareness among Saudi Arabian faculty regarding security and privacy settings of video conferencing apps and to investigate the factors associated with it. We analyzed the data using the Knowledge-Attitudes-Behaviors (KAB) model and the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method. We found that the average awareness score of video conferencing apps' security and privacy settings falls into the "Poor" category, which is not surprising considering that many faculty members only started using this new technology on a daily basis because of the pandemic. Further analysis showed that perceived security, familiarity with the app, and digital literacy of faculty members are significantly associated with higher awareness. Privacy concerns are significantly associated with higher awareness only among STEM faculty members, while attitudes toward ICT for teaching and research are negatively associated with such awareness among senior faculty members with more than 10 years of experience. This study lays the foundation for future research and user education on the security and privacy settings of video conferencing applications.

Faculty perceptions, awareness and use of open educational resources for teaching and learning in higher education: a cross-comparative analysis

This paper explores faculty's perspectives and use of open educational resources (OER) and their repositories across different countries by conducting a multiple case study to find similarities and differences between academics' awareness, perceptions and use of OER, as well as examining related aspects of institutional policy and quality that may influence individual views. Data were collected through nine expert reports on each country studied (Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Spain and Turkey) and were analyzed through qualitative content analysis using thematic coding. Findings show the impact on individual OER adoption with regard to the individual control of diverse factors by faculty members; of institutional policies and quality measures on the externally determined factors (by the institution); and of institutional professional development and provision of incentives in more internally determined factors (by the faculty members themselves). These findings carry implications for higher education institutions around the world in their attempt to boost OER adoption by faculty members.

University Teachers During the First Lockdown Due to SARS-CoV-2 in Italy: Stress, Issues and Perceptions of Misconduct

With the spread of the pandemic and the introduction of measures aimed at its containment, it is necessary to understand in specific national contexts how home quarantine has affected the psychophysical well-being of academics, and their ability to maintain integrity. To this end we constructed an online questionnaire to investigate the levels of stress, well-being, and work-life balance in relationship with living and working conditions. Moreover, the questionnaire was designed to obtain information about the perceived occurrence, increase or decrease of misconduct in research (e.g., research misconduct by colleagues) and professional relationships (e.g., misbehaviors between colleagues, from students and toward students). The questionnaire was administered online by contacting faculty at three universities in Tuscany, Italy, asking them to relate their experience during the first lockdown (March-May 2020). Faculty members were invited to complete the questionnaire by their institutional e-mail account. The final sample consisted of 581 respondents. The results showed that inadequacies of the equipment, and particularly poor internet connection, were significantly correlated with main issues reported, such as relationships with students and research activities. Female teachers primarily suffered from stressful conditions, lacked well-being, and experienced work-life imbalance. Stress levels were related to perceptions of the frequency of misconduct and of an increase in their frequency during the period of home quarantine. Female professors, when compared to their male counterparts, perceived misconduct from students as increased and more frequent in the period of quarantine. Results point to a gender issue that is likely to arise from conditions of domestic activities imbalance and that increases stress and misconduct perception.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of oral cancer prevention among students, interns, and faculty members at the college of dentistry of Jazan University

Background

Oral cancer awareness among current and future dental practitioners plays a substantial role in the early detection and prevention of oral cancer. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of oral cancer prevention (OCP) among oral health practitioners in the College of Dentistry at Jazan University, Saudi Arabia, and to determine factors that facilitate, or limit practices related to oral cancer prevention.

Methods

A self-administered questionnaire survey was done among dental students (n = 274), interns (n = 81), and faculty members (n = 117) in the College of Dentistry at Jazan University between May 2019 to February 2020. The questionnaire was developed in English and modified from a previously validated and published questionnaire into Arabic. It covered every KAP of oral cancer prevention that was useful in accomplishing the study's objectives. Logistic regression analysis was utilized to determine the factors associated with the practice of oral cancer prevention in the past year.

Results

Only 29.7% reported having participated in any OCP activities in the past 12 months while about 42% and 53% of participants referred suspected oral cancer patients to the departments of maxillofacial surgery and oral medicine, respectively. Most of the participants had poor knowledge (71.9%), unfavourable attitudes towards OCP (83.6%) and poor levels of practice (62.9%). The study found that the attitude of the participants was significant in influencing their practices of OCP in the previous 12 months, after adjusting for all other factors.

Conclusion

It was concluded that the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of OCP among the sample population was poor. The survey findings suggest that oral health practitioners in Jazan are inexperienced in the methods to adopt for prevention and early detection of oral cancer, despite the high prevalence of oral cancer among province residents. Further research should investigate effective educational strategies and training for improving the participation of students, interns, and faculty members in oral cancer prevention activities.

The role of academic electronic books in undergraduate students' achievement in higher education

The study objective was to seek the role of utilizing academic electronic books on Ajman University undergraduate students' achievement and faculty members viewpoints about their use. The study participants were 91 students, split into two groups the first group was empirical (46) and the other group was control (45) plus 220 members of the faculty. A performance test and a questionnaire were designed and implemented as tools of study. The results detected significant differences among both the empirical groups and the control groups, for the benefit of the empirical group; and faculty members exhibited highly favorable perspectives on the use of academic electronic books at their university. Faculty members' perceptions varied according to gender, college, and experience teaching, but the academic rank showed no influence.

Quality of nursing education programme in the Philippines: faculty members perspectives

BACKGROUND

The subject of continuous improvement in the quality of nursing education programme is an extremely sensitive issue worldwide, particularly in the Philippines where a high number of trained registered nurses are exported to both developed and developing countries. The assessment of the quality of nursing education programme is usually measured using pass rates in licensure examinations by several government organizations. However, few studies have indicated that various categories of faculty members view the quality of nursing programmes differently, this study probed further and determined whether the quality of nursing education programme differs according to the profile of faculty members in Philippines colleges of higher education.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey study design was employed in this study. One hundred and eight-five (185) faculty members in fifteen (15) higher educational institutions were selected for the research using purposive-census sampling. The study was carried out from January 1 to June 30, 2017. Close-ended structured questionnaires based on study objectives were used to collect data. Frequency and percentages were used to analyse the profile of faculty members whereas weighted means from a four Likert's scale was used to interpret the extent of perceived quality of nursing education programme.

RESULTS

Majority, 39 and 46% of faculty members had 1-5 years' clinical experience and 6-10 years of teaching experience respectively. Faculty members strongly agreed with a grand weighted mean of 3.84 out of 4.00 that nursing education programme is of good quality in the Philippines and is synonyms with other universities in the world. Teaching experience of faculty members showed significant relations in the quality of mission/vision/goals/objectives (p-value = 0.008), curriculum and instruction (p-value = 0.038), administration of nursing programme (p-value = 0.025), faculty development programme (p-value = 0.003), physical structure and equipment (p-value = 0.016), student services (p-value = 0.017), admission of students (p-value = 0.010) and quality assurance system (p-value = 0.009).

CONCLUSION

Faculty members strongly perceived nursing education programme to be of good quality in this study. Teaching experience of instructors showed a significant relationship with the quality of nursing education programme in all the quality assessment indicators. However, clinical experience and job category of faculty members rather showed that the quality of nursing education programme is the same throughout all the higher educational institutions. The study implies that the teaching experience of faculty members is a strong predictor of quality of nursing education programme and employing faculty experienced in teaching is substantial for the continuous improvement of nursing education programme.

Facilitating the retention and success of students with disabilities in health sciences: Experiences and recommendations by nursing faculty members

This paper explores the experiences of 19 Spanish faculty members teaching nursing students with disabilities and their recommendations to other colleagues about how to facilitate their retention and success. Students themselves nominated those faculty members they felt had contributed to their learning at university. We carried out a qualitative study with individual interviews and observations. We conducted an analysis of all the information using a system of categories and codes with different themes: experience teaching students with disabilities, personal and professional impact on the faculty and recommendations to other colleagues. The findings indicate that the participants had positive experiences teaching nursing students with disabilities, although they also commented on negative aspects. The impact of students with disabilities was greater at the professional level, as they had helped them become better professionals. Moreover, these participants gave recommendations to help other colleagues contribute to the inclusion of all their students. The study concludes that it is necessary to engage in inclusive pedagogy that contemplates students' needs and develops practices that allow for their learning and participation. Just like their peers, students with disabilities can successfully complete their degrees providing the necessary support is offered, and this includes sensitized, well-informed and properly-trained faculty.

Knowledge, attitude and compliance of infection control guidelines among dental faculty members and students in KSU

Background

Infection is one of the most crucial problems in health care services worldwide. It is considered one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality associated with clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate knowledge, attitude, and compliance with recommended infection control guidelines among dental faculty members and students at King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted to obtain information regarding knowledge, attitude, and compliance with recommended infection control guidelines. The sample (n = 317) comprised of dental faculty members and students (3rd, 4th and 5th year) in both male and female campuses of College of Dentistry (KSU).

This questionnaire contained three parts (knowledge, attitude, and compliance) and was distributed to the participants. After validation of the survey, data were collected, entered and analyzed by SPSS software.

Results

A total of 317 dental faculty members and students participated in this study. Out of the total study subjects, 141 (44.5%) were female and 176 (55.5%) were male. A comparison between dental faculty members and students was made based on their knowledge, attitude, and compliance, which resulted in almost equal percentages of knowledge (49.6, 49.0% respectively). In addition, it revealed that faculty members’ attitude toward infection control in the dental clinic was more positive compared to their compliance with the infection control guidelines (70.6, 65.2% respectively) while with the students it was vice versa (67.2, 69.6% respectively).

There is no statistically significant difference in the knowledge and attitude of dental faculty members and students regarding infection control guidelines (P > 0.05).

Conclusion

Our study showed that dental undergraduate student and faculty members at KSU demonstrated a good adherence to infection control guidelines. On the other hand, there was a lack in the knowledge of the basics of infection control standards.

Perception and adoption of competency-based training by academics in Ghana

BACKGROUND

With the rise in graduate unemployment and the poor linkage between university education and industry, competency-based training (CBT) is gaining popularity in Ghana's universities as a way of producing business-oriented and well-grounded graduates for industry who are ready to make use of knowledge acquired in university education to establish businesses that will help reduce unemployment in the country as well as working effectively in the nation's industry and service sectors. With CBT yet to be introduced in most Ghanaian tertiary institutions, information about academics' perception and willingness to adopt the methodology is crucial. This study examined the perception and adoption of CBT by academics in Ghana using cross-sectional data collected from 300 faculty members of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, 5-point Likert scale, perception index, and the logit model were the methods of analysis employed.

RESULTS

The results of the survey showed that the overall perception index was 0.49, indicating that generally faculty members of KNUST agreed and had a positive perception of the potential of CBT in instilling in students employable skills. The logit results also showed that the probability of adoption of CBT is positively influenced by participation in CBT workshops, effective supervision of faculty members by university authorities, availability of teaching aids, and availability of incentives. Conversely, adoption was found to be negatively influenced by teaching load and number of undergraduate students per class.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that provision of appropriate teaching and learning resources that complement adoption of CBT, incentives, and competency-based education training for academics by university authorities and stakeholders in Ghana's tertiary education will enhance the adoption of CBT methodologies.

Data on perceived excessive workload on faculty members׳ commitment

For this article, the survey data on the effect of perceived excessive workload on faculty members’ commitment was presented. This data was gathered from an academic environment using the full time faculty members of Covenant University. The descriptive research design method was employed. The initial sample size used for the analysis was 228 faculty members but only 189 copies of questionnaire were returned. Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was used for the coding of the data. The validity and reliability of the research instrument were carried out using Cronbach Alpha. Descriptive analysis was used for the presentation of the data. This data is made publicly available to assist further study in the area of workload and employees commitment.

Institutional factors affecting participation in national faculty development programs: a nation-wide investigation of medical schools

BACKGROUND

Medical schools have used faculty development programs as an essential means to improve the instruction of faculty members. Thus far, however, participating in such programs has been largely voluntary for individuals even though a certain degree of participation is required to achieve practical effectiveness. In addition, the learning behaviors of faculty members are known to be influenced by organizational contexts such as a hidden curriculum. Therefore, this study explored the organizational characteristics of medical schools affecting attendance at faculty development programs.

METHODS

Forty medical schools in South Korea were included in this study. In total, 1,667 faculty members attended the faculty development programs at the National Teacher Training Center for Health Personnel between 2007 and 2015. For independent variables, information on the basic characteristics and the educational states was collected from all the medical schools. Themes were identified from their educational goals and objectives by inductive content analysis.

RESULTS

The number of nine-year cumulative attendees from medical schools ranged from 8 to 104. The basic characteristics of the medical schools had little influence on faculty development program attendance, while several themes in the educational goals and objectives, including "cooperation", "serving various societies", and "dealing with a changing future" showed a significant difference in participation. The number of full-time faculty showed a significant positive correlation when it was smaller than the median, and the proportion of alumni faculty showed a significant negative correlation when it was higher than 50%.

CONCLUSIONS

This study adds to existing knowledge on factors affecting attendance at faculty development programs by identifying related institutional factors that influence attendance. While the variations depending on the basic characteristics were minimal, the organizational environment surrounding medical education significantly contributed to attendance. Addressing institutional as well as individual factors could contribute to improving participation by faculty members in faculty development programs.

Satisfaction of Iranian Medical Universities' faculty members towards holding Shahid Motahari Annual Educational Festival

INTRODUCTION

Shahid Motahari Annual Educational Festival aims to improve the quality of medical education in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and has held since 2008. The present study was performed to determine the satisfaction level of Iranian medical universities' faculty members about holding Shahid Motahari Annual Educational Festival during the past six years, from 2008 to 2014.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 473 faculty members (FMs) including deputies and educational administrators, managers, and faculty members of medical education development centers, members of scientific committees, and faculty members who participated in Shahid Motahari Festival from 42 medical sciences universities in Iran. Data collection instruments were two reliable and valid questionnaires on the background and also participants' satisfaction towards Shahid Motahari Educational Festival. Data were analyzed using SPSS Software, version 14.

RESULTS

Among all participants, 30 FMs (6.3%) were educational deputies, 36 FMs (7.6%) managers of medical education development centers, 226 FMs (56.2%) members of scientific committees, 29 FMs (6.1%) members of the national committees, 343 FMs (27.5%) attendees, and 264 FMs (55.8%) had participated for retraining. The total satisfaction level of the participants was 73.3% which shows a good satisfaction level.

CONCLUSION

The results identified the main important strength points such as "proposals' review process at the country level" and weakness points such as "organizing the festival".

Experiences of Academic Members About their Professional Challenges: a Content Analysis Qualitative study

Background:

University faculty members of different disciplines in any country, by giving better quality services, will further accelerate the development of their respective countries. This study aims to explore the experiences of faculty members about their professional challenges.

Aim:

In this qualitative study, which was conducted in 2013, fifteen faculty members in the departments of clinical and basic sciences of Mazandaran university of Medical Sciences in northern Iran were chosen for semi-structured in-depth interviews by purposive sampling method. All tape-recorded data were fully transcribed and content analysis was performed.

Results:

After immersion and data analysis, three main themes were emerged including: “Imbalances in academic members’ tasks in different areas”, “Weakness of evaluation and promotion system” and “Failure to provide the infrastructure educational facilities”. The main themes and sub-themes are explained by the help of participants’ direct quotations.

Conclusions:

This study suggested that it is better to take effective measures to improve the faculty members’ situation and therefore increase their efficiency, effectiveness and productivity.

Faculty Member's Views, Attitude and Current Practice As Regards International Committee of Medical Journal Editors Criteria for Authorship

BACKGROUND

The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and views of faculty members on criteria for authorship by International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), their current practice of choosing the authors, views on gift authorship and problems they had faced concerning authorship.

METHODS

It was a cross sectional survey from January 2011 to July 2011 among faculty members of various private and public sector medical institutions of Pakistan through a self-administered questionnaire. Main outcome measures included awareness and use of ICMJE criteria, which contribution to research merit authorship and their perceptions about gift authorship.

RESULTS

Two hundred eighteen faculty members (180 males, 38 females) participated in the study. One hundred twenty eight (58.7%) were from surgery and allied disciplines. Ninety six percent had published between one to five papers while 60(27.5%) had six to ten papers to their credit. One hundred eleven (50.9%) claimed they were aware about the authorship criteria, only twenty two (19.8%) could name this document. Only four (1.8%) could correctly state this. Only one hundred twenty (55.0%) said that all three criteria's must be met to be eligible for authorship. Ninety three (42.7%) said that they were not included as authors though they deserved it while sixty three said they did not merit but were still included. Forty two (19.3%) said that they were not aware when they were listed as authors.

CONCLUSION

A vast majority of young faculty members are not aware of the existence of authorship criteria and gift authorship is quite common.

Challenges of measuring a faculty member activity in medical schools

BACKGROUND

One of the features of Mission Based Management is measuring the activities of faculty members and departments and their contributions to the school's mission. As it is important to assess the school's readiness for such a system, in this study we assessed the view points of Tehran Medical School's department chairs about faculty members' activities.

METHODS

We used focus group technique to identify participants' view points. We divided 30 department chairs into homogenous groups of 4-6. After a brief introduction, the moderator presented questions to determine the participants' idea and a secretary recorded them. We categorized view points into main themes and subthemes.

RESULTS

Ninety three percent of chairs participated in the sessions. Department chairs' view points were categorized into 3 main themes: "system is effective and important", "system is effective and important but some challenges should be considered" and "system is ineffective and should not be implemented". Subthemes included chairs' concerns, views, fears and reasons.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of the study provided reliable information about department chairs' concerns and reactions to this system. Finally, we determined points of strengths and anticipated threats for developing a faculty member activity measurement system.