How Do Social Networks and Faculty Development Courses Affect Clinical Supervisors' Adoption of a Medical Education Innovation? An Exploratory Study

Purpose

To examine the impact of social networks and a two-day faculty development course on clinical supervisors' adoption of an educational innovation.

Method

During 2007-2010, 571 residents and 613 clinical supervisors in four specialties in the Netherlands were invited to complete a Web-based questionnaire. Residents rated their clinical supervisors' adoption of an educational innovation, the use of structured and constructive (S&C) feedback. Clinical supervisors self-assessed their adoption of this innovation and rated their communication intensity with other clinical supervisors in their department. For each supervisor, a centrality score was calculated, representing the extent to which the supervisor was connected to departmental colleagues. The authors analyzed the effects of supervisor centrality and participation in a two-day Teach-the-Teacher course on the degree of innovation adoption using hierarchical linear modeling, adjusting for age, gender, and attitude toward the S&C feedback innovation.

Results

Respondents included 370 (60%) supervisors and 357 (63%) residents. Although Teach-the-Teacher course participation (n = 172; 46.5%) was significantly related to supervisors' self-assessments of adoption (P = .001), it had no effect on residents' assessments of supervisors' adoption (P = .371). Supervisor centrality was significantly related to innovation adoption in both residents' assessments (P = .023) and supervisors' self-assessments (P = .024).

Conclusions

A clinical supervisor's social network may be as important as faculty development course participation in determining whether the supervisor adopts an educational innovation. Faculty development initiatives should use faculty members' social networks to improve the adoption of educational innovations and help build and maintain communities of practice.