/Institutions/MGH-Institute-of-Health-Professions/json/2016-2017/Faculty-Handbook-local.json

/Institutions/MGH-Institute-of-Health-Professions/json/2016-2017/Faculty-Handbook.json

Faculty Handbook 2016-2017 > Section III - Faculty Policies and Procedures > Academic Policies and Procedures > Scholarship and Research > Faculty Scholarship

Faculty Scholarship

The Institute subscribes to the Carnegie Foundation’s framework for faculty scholarship, which encompasses the overlapping areas of discovery, integration, application and teaching of knowledge, along with community engagement. Faculty members are expected to pursue excellence in one or more of these areas:

1) Discovery in the form of research that leads to improved practice within the health care professions and that contributes to better health care.

2) Integration of data and information without regard to traditional disciplinary boundaries, with a goal of improving health care and practice within the health professions.

3) Application of new knowledge through clinical practice that provides patients with state-of-the-art high quality health care and that is designed to identify areas of possible improvement.

4) Teaching students and clinicians using effective and efficient methodologies and technologies.

5) Community Engagement to enhance student learning and to benefit external constituencies.

At the Institute, faculty scholarly productivity and contributions are evaluated on an annual basis. A more complete description of the distinct implementation of each of these four areas of scholarship at the IHP is provided below.

Discovery

Knowledge begins with discovery through research. The Institute faculty engages in original clinical research that is ultimately aimed at improving the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human disorders and disabilities. Much of this research is collaborative and interdisciplinary and involves investigations that seek to better characterize the incidence, physical, and psychological impact of human disorders and disabilities as a basis for guiding the development of better patient management approaches. Research at the Institute also encompasses all phases in the development and evaluation of new methods for preventing, diagnosing, and treating human disorders and related disabilities, progressing from pilot feasibility studies to full-scale clinical trials to determine the efficacy of clinical methods. Because of their proximity and connections to one of the richest technological development environments in the world, IHP faculty members are particularly active in collaborative cross-disciplinary efforts to apply emerging technologies in developing improved clinical tools. Finally, because of the Institute’s long-standing emphasis and expertise in clinical education, Institute faculty members also engage in educational evaluative research both of traditional pedagogical approaches and new modes of instruction, including simulation and the Internet.

Faculty members publish the results of their research in peer-reviewed journals and actively pursue external research grants to support their work.

Evidence of success from the Institute faculty in the area of DISCOVERY includes:

• Grant submissions and awards that are directed at answering original research questions.
• Presentations of original research results at scientific meetings, particularly at a national or international level.
• Publications of peer-reviewed reports of original scientific work in mainstream, peer-reviewed journals.

Integration

With the ever expanding body of knowledge in the various disciplines, there is an ongoing need to integrate new information from a variety of sources to make applications to health care possible. Institute faculty engage in productive multidisciplinary collaborations within and outside the Institute and play a leadership role in pulling together and disseminating new information from different sources that have relevance for improving health care and practice within the health professions. In addition to integrating information as part of their teaching, faculty also disseminate this knowledge to the field by presenting at important local/regional, national, and international meetings, and by publishing books, book chapters, and review articles.

Following are examples of what could constitute evidence of success by Institute faculty in the area of INTEGRATION:

• Adaptation of existing interdisciplinary protocols, tools, or clinical resources to fit a specific population or condition and reporting on these activities at important meetings or in publications.
• Developing and evaluating new interdisciplinary clinical protocols and tools and producing publications that describe the outcomes.
• Preparing significant written summaries or interpretations that synthesize information from multiple disciplines for use by students or practitioners in a specific clinical context (e.g., team management of stroke in the acute care setting).
• Publications of original works in text books, online resources, chapters in edited texts that deal with interprofessional health care including development of practice guidelines or other evidence-based tools for practitioners in multidisciplinary settings.
• Interpretation and synthesis of information from multiple professional sources to create publications that are for a specific audience (patients, individuals with low literacy, etc.)
• Cross disciplinary collaborations, including serving in a supportive role on grants or research projects (e.g., outcome studies) initiated by others and participating in the creation of new interprofessional clinical and research teams.

Application

In their roles as clinical practitioners, Institute faculty deliver excellent state-of-the-art care to patients, including the application of innovative methods that improve clinical practice and health care delivery. Faculty members also utilize their clinical practice and experience as a basis for identifying areas that could benefit from the acquisition of new knowledge and methods, and they collaborate with researchers in related clinical investigations. As master clinicians, faculty members share their expertise at local/regional, national and international workshops, and by publishing clinical materials.

Following are examples of what could constitute evidence of success by Institute faculty in the area of APPLICATION:

• Case studies and single subject investigations that are submitted for publication.
• Development and publication of practice guidelines.
• Participation on professional consensus panels that lead to a published statement on best practice or provide expert guidance to practitioners.
• Documentation of innovative procedures that improve patient care and lead to development of materials or resources for patients, students, or colleagues.

Teaching

Institute faculty provide students with cutting-edge knowledge of their health care disciplines and clinical practice through excellent didactic and clinical instruction that employs state-of-the-art teaching methods. Faculty members also participate in the dissemination of new, more effective instructional methods through important presentations at regional, national, and international meetings, and by publishing in books and professional journals that deal with educational methodology.

Following are examples of what could constitute evidence of success by Institute faculty in the area of TEACHING:

• Presentations and publications of innovative teaching methods.
• Efficacy studies of various instructional methodologies or outcomes.
• Development of innovative presentations and teaching materials that are communicated beyond the Institute.
• Participating in significant efforts at improving curricular content or delivery that lead to a new program or curriculum.
• Developing workshops, chapters, articles, online resources directed at improving the teaching and learning enterprise in the health professions.

Community Engagement

Institute faculty develop effective, mutually beneficial collaborations between the Institute and local, regional/state, national, and/or global communities. These collaborations enhance student learning and exposure to diversity and real-world issues in health care and provide clear benefits to the community.

Following are examples of what could constitute evidence of success by Institute faculty in the area of COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:

• Development of innovative programs with selected community partners that are presented as models of engagement to the academic world outside of the Institute.
• Development of new materials (written, multimedia, etc.) that are utilized by community programs and/or in educational programs outside of the Institute.
• Collaborations with community agencies on grant submissions and awards that are designed to provide support for collaborative community projects.
• Participation in studies of the impact/outcomes of collaborative programs on student learning/attitudes at the Institute and/or the target group in the selected community.
• Participation in the preparation of written reports, impact statements, etc. that are utilized by community partners and/or associated agencies.