UNE health professions experts offer insight into faculty development during national webinar

Shelley Cohen Konrad, Kris Hall, and Karen Pardue
Shelley Cohen Konrad, Kris Hall, and Karen Pardue

Representatives from UNE’s health professions programs shared their expertise on faculty development at this year’s National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education virtual workshop.

The workshop explored various aspects of faculty development, with a focus on diversity and inclusion. Presentations at the workshop provided examples of how educators are using effective teaching strategies and practices in health professional education.

A book titled, “Health Professions Faculty for the Future,” includes information presented during the webinar. It was recently published and is now available for download.

Shelley Cohen Konrad, Ph.D., LCSW., FNAP, director of UNE’s Center for Excellence in Collaborative Education (CECE); Karen Pardue, Ph.D., M.S., RN, CNE, ANEF, interim provost; and Kris Hall, M.F.A., program manager of CECE, created a presentation that they delivered during the webinar and that is now published in the book.

Their presentation was focused on formal education or training for faculty development that takes place in the classroom or workplace.

Konrad created a framework called “conscious instruction.” According to Konrad, the framework calls attention to the what, how, and why of education as well as the choices that are made in every aspect of knowledge transfer.

Other topics discussed during the webinar and published in the book include developing relationships across health professions and across sectors; being aware of changes in health systems and being ready to adapt education; Learning, teaching, and applying new technologies and data-driven applications; and understanding faculty's role in assessing, mentoring, and providing constructive feedback to learners and colleagues.