Who are our universal faculty?

Universal Faculty – all who in the student learning journey, including all staff in placement practicum, charitable organisations, fellow students and the patients and their carers.

In healthcare professional education, students encounter a diverse team who provide formal and informal teaching events, resulting in an authentic learning experience. This diverse team, we consider as universal faculty. Universal faculty may not necessarily recognise their involvement in the education of medical students, but their interactions are crucial for creating an authentic experiential learning environment.

At Leeds, we outreach a universal faculty with educational development opportunities and curriculum information across many locations. In acknowledging the diverse nature of faculty and the variety of challenges they face in identifying and engaging as medical educators, a TiMEtoTeach faculty development approach addresses these concerns to provide consistency within the student experience. It is key to faculty feeling valued that they are offered opportunities for ‘professional growth’ and access to ‘collegiality and community involvement’ for the university to get the best out of their faculty.

Impacting the communications between medical school and the outside world, promotion of medical education means that universal faculty can gain ownership of a teaching encounter and provide the necessary authentic experience for students.

We have published the TiMEtoTeach project and tips on how to outreach a universal faculty with a flexible faculty development approach.