Is it feasible and effective to provide faculty development programs online for clinical teachers?

Purpose: Seoul National University College of Medicine operates a faculty development program for clinical teachers at multiple affiliated teaching hospitals. In 2020, the program was moved online due to coronavirus disease 2019. The purpose of this study was to determine whether it is feasible and effective to provide faculty development programs online in terms of clinical teachers' participation and satisfaction in comparison with offline programs.
Methods: Clinical teachers participated in the clinical teaching methods programs offline in 2019 and online in 2020. We analyzed participation rate and satisfaction level. All surveys items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale. We also interviewed instructors about the advantages and drawbacks of the online program.
Results: The participation rate of the online program (89.5%) was significantly higher than that of the offline program (67.8%). The overall satisfaction level for the online program (4.37) was similar to that for the offline program (4.50).
Conclusion: Faculty development programs online are feasible and effective in medical education. We need to design training content that fits online programs, consider various online training methods to reinforce the strengths of online programs, and support participants to make good use of these programs.