Developing as a health professional educator: pathways and choices

W hen health professionals graduate and start to practise, the last thing on the minds of most is tackling any further academic training outside their own field. Instead, their focus will be on maintaining their competence and currency amid rapidly evolving knowledge and technology-based skills. However, many health professionals are expected to become involved in teaching undergraduate or postgraduate students in their own or a related health profession. If time allows, many will be interested, but they are likely to need some knowledge, skills and practical experience that are not part of mainstream development among health professionals. Increasingly, education providers require their clinical teachers to undertake some form of basic teacher training. Once that has been completed, those with a real interest in teaching and learning will be asking such questions as ‘What else is available?’ and ‘What will it do for me?’ Finding answers to these questions is not necessarily easy, as there are many possible pathways to take, depending on what the individual health professional wants to achieve. This paper attempts to guide the choices of those with more academic interests in medical education, and to facilitate their career enhancement and enjoyment. AIMS: WHERE DO I WANT TO GO?