FUTURE DIRECTIONS...

This year more than 100 members of the Faculty of Medicine spent time working to develop consensus about the direction the faculty should be taking with respect to distributed learning and research. A third issue was the critical numbers of faculty members required to fulfil the strategic directions.

The high turnout for the Faculty Retreat is one measure of the commitment to the future shared among faculty members, and the lively - sometime passionate - debate in small group discussions gave the opportunity for different views to be shared.

Discussions around distributed learning and curriculum change revealed mixed views. Distributed learning is based on the premise that learning is flexible and the curriculum can be delivered in different and multiple educational settings and in different formats. In general it was felt that to move forward with distributed learning, plans must be initiated to achieve greater faculty understanding and support and to identify and address barriers. Infrastructure such as communications technology, equipment and an appropriate remuneration model are required. Faculty and staff training and a process that includes clear objectives, a pilot initiative, as well as a monitoring and evaluation process will be essential to a successful implementation.

In discussions about research, a recurring theme arose: resource issues such as space, start up and bridging funding, as well as time from clinical activity to support an optimal research agenda. Currently, research is centralized in St. John's and is primarily investigator-driven. A desired future would have an organizational structure for research within each discipline, protected time for clinician researchers, increased multidisciplinary approaches, and enhanced collaboration, co-ordination and resource sharing. Retreat participants identified required modifications and changes in current practices, notably in space, funding, time, support staff for preparation of grant submissions, manuscripts and budgets, and a critical mass of researchers. Participants identified the need for aggressive marketing, an increased research component in the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum, the development of capacity in specific areas of expertise, a province-wide strategic plan for research led by Memorial, and theme-based research.

Since the retreat an action committee has been struck to follow-up on recommendations. The dean and the assistant dean for research and graduate studies will develop new approaches to promote and improve the value of research.