Duke Department of Medicine Faculty:
I have spent the last three months cultivating a vision for faculty development by listening to faculty across our department. As a member of the Faculty Development Academy (FDA) in 2011, I understand the importance of initiatives that provide support for faculty to be successful.
The FDA provided me with a great opportunity to get to know other faculty members, to learn about organizational leadership, and to acquire new and nurture existing skills in communication, organization, and leadership. It definitely helped to lay a foundation that has been critical in my professional success and provided me with the knowledge and skills needed to facilitate my contributions to the Department and Duke University.
Now that I have transitioned to overseeing this office, I want to share with you how I view faculty development. I see it as a continuous process of capacity-building, which includes knowledge and skill acquisition that allows for professional and personal growth throughout one’s career. It is foundational to ensuring that one’s actions and behaviors lead to the accomplishment of individualized professional goals and in fostering meaningful contributions toward the success of professional networks and organizations to which individuals belong.
Faculty development is critical in shaping the success of one’s career, and therefore, it should be a priority for faculty at all levels. I want to cultivate an environment that emphasizes the importance of professional development for all faculty, regardless of academic rank, and I want to ensure that more diverse faculty have access to professional development resources. I seek to develop creative strategies for expanding opportunities for more faculty to get access to the information and resources they need to achieve excellence as clinicians, educators, researchers, and scholars.
People represent the most valuable resource of any organization. If the people working within an organization are able to flourish and achieve success, the organization will flourish and achieve success. The Department of Medicine pursues excellence in clinical care, medical education, and research, and in such pursuit, it recognizes the importance of ensuring the professional success and well-being of its faculty. I am committed to ensuring that the Department continues to prioritize providing resources to foster the career development of our faculty.
Additionally, please know that I support you and desire to be an advocate for you. You should feel free to contact me with questions or ideas about faculty development opportunities within the Department of Medicine and know that I can also be a resource for you regarding faculty development opportunities within the School of Medicine and outside of Duke.
I strongly encourage you to consider applying for the Department’s Faculty Development Academy, which helps to develop faculty with interest in multiple career tracks. The program provides instruction on important career development topics, which include communication, networking, building clinical and research programs, developing educational curricula, promotion, and negotiation. Through this program, there are opportunities for individualized and group meetings with faculty coaches who have a strong record of mentorship and career development. Any regular-rank faculty member may apply for membership in the Academy, although the program may be particularly beneficial to junior faculty. A call for applications will be released later this month.
Sincerely,
Carla W. Brady, MD, MHS
Vice Chair, Faculty Development
Associate Professor, Gastroenterology