Advances in Medical Education and Practice (Mar 2024)
Twelve Tips to Succeed as Health Profession Clinical Educator in Resource-Limited Settings
Abstract
Abdullah Alismail,1,2,* Rania Esteitie,3,* Carmen Leon-Astudillo,4 Jezreel Pantaleón García,5 Swathi Sangli,6 Sriram Kumar Sunil7 1Department of Cardiopulmonary Sciences, School of Allied Health Professions, Loma Linda University Health, Loma Linda, CA, USA; 2Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University Health, Loma Linda, CA, USA; 3Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Covenant HealthCare, Saginaw, MI, USA; 4Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA; 5Department of Pulmonary Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA; 6Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Kaiser Permanente, San Leandro, CA, USA; 7Department of Internal Medicine, Jacobi Medical Center, Bronx, New York City, NY, USA*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Abdullah Alismail, Department of Cardiopulmonary Sciences, Department of Medicine, Loma Linda University Health, Loma Linda, CA, USA, Tel +1 909-558-1000 ext 47119, Email [email protected]: Health professions education is one of the pillars of academic medicine; however, clinical educators often lack the appropriate resources to succeed in this field. Examples of these challenges include: lack of support for faculty development, mentorship, and high cost of resources, when available. In addition, challenges such as the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic can affect healthcare personnel who are already struggling to provide adequate patient care while attempting to succeed in the role of educator and supervisor of trainees. Clinical educators face more challenges particularly in low-middle income countries as the limitations are more prominent and become key barriers to success. Similarly, due to COVID-19, these challenges can be far more evident in disadvantaged geographical, economic, and academic environments even in the United States. Herein, in this perspective paper, we define resource-limited settings in medical education, provide an overview of the most common barriers to career development as a clinical educator, and offer practical strategies to overcome some of these shortcomings.Keywords: resource-limited settings, medical education, health professions educator, global public health
