Brookdale-Duke Geriatrics Faculty Development Academy
One of the greatest needs in the field of Geriatrics is for the development and sustaining of young faculty to lead efforts in research and education in our nation’s medical schools. Duke University has for many years pusued these objectives through their Geriatrics Fellowship Program and through their Junior Faculty Development and Mentoring Programs. This pilot project to support an innovative peer-directed learning program is intended to augment the existing mentoring relationships within the Center. This peer-directed program will focus on processes, mechanism, and logistics of scholarly productivity and advancement. By fostering information-sharing and collaboration among junior faculty participants, the project will magnify the impact of the many excellent senior mentors throughout the Aging Center.
Duke University will create the Brookdale-Duke Geriatrics Faculty Development Academy, which will have two core programs: The Junior Faculty Library and the Education Commons. The grant will allow Duke to further empower the junior faculty groups and provide them with key resources to support their further development, while preserving the spontaneity and informality of interaction which appears to be so important for the success of this approach. Each of the cores will continue to function independently, but with sharing of potential methodologies and lessons learned, as appropriate. The latter will be accomplished through an annual retreat at which these lessons will be shared and opportunities for collaboration identified.