IAMSE Member Perspectives on the Recognition, Reward, and Promotion of Medical Science Educators: an IAMSE Sponsored Survey

A central mission of the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) is to support the efforts of medical science educators (MSE) and to facilitate communication about critical issues affecting medical science education and educators. One potential issue we explored relates to whether published guidelines for the recognition, reward, and promotion of MSE have been widely adopted by institutions and whether faculty is aware of them. To address this, we surveyed the international membership of IAMSE to collect the following data: (1) perceptions and understanding of institutional promotion and tenure practices, institutional metrics for evaluating MSE, and methods of institutional recognition and reward of MSE, (2) perceptions of the adequacy of these processes, and (3) awareness of published guidelines for the evaluation and promotion of MSE. While the results of this survey identified a need for more time to pursue scholarship and innovation in medical education, greater recognition of MSE and their contributions, and increased institutional support of and resources for MSE activities, the results also showed that some MSE do feel recognized and rewarded for their work and that over half (57%) of respondents indicated that MSE can be promoted at their institutions based on their work as educators. We anticipate that the outcomes of this study will be used to inform institutional development and implementation of promotion and tenure guidelines, to facilitate the development of initiatives to help institutions better support the professional development and recognition of MSE, and to help MSE better advocate for these initiatives.