Resource Center

Faculty Shortages Across the Health Professions: Implications for Teaching and Workforce

In recent years, health professions educators and administrators have increasingly witnessed and have thus begun attempting to address faculty shortages across the spectrum of health professions, perhaps most acutely in allied health, dentistry, nursing and pharmacy. The development of new curricula and the aspiration to expand community-based education have exacerbated concerns about adequate, qualified faculty.

The 9th Congress of Health Professions Educators examined the causes of faculty shortages and considered whether and how they might differ by profession. Speakers representing allied health, dentistry, nursing and pharmacy presented papers in which they shared recent data and anticipated trends, and discussed current and anticipated strategies to respond. Academic health center leaders presented successful models being employed to address the problem, and offered homegrown solutions. Additional papers presented at the 9th Congress addressed workforce planning, including examinations of health workforce dynamics and planning, and one institution’s unique response to a shortage of nursing faculty.

The 9th Congress was sponsored by the Center for Interdisciplinary, Community-based Learning (CICL), which operates pursuant to a Cooperative Agreement between the AHC and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Established in 1997, CICL is dedicated to strengthening and institutionalizing interdisciplinary, community-based learning. The AHC is extremely grateful to The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for its generous support of the 9th Congress, and to SSR, Inc, for editorial assistance and to Fletcher Design for design of the conference materials.

Copyright © 2003 Association of Academic Health Centers. Available here with permission.