A Workshop and Toolkit to Support Late-Career Transitions for Faculty

Introduction: Twenty percent of medical school faculty are 60 years or older. These senior-career academic faculty often find a paucity of support for decision-making about late-career transitions.

Methods: To help fill this professional development gap, we developed and tested an interactive workshop to facilitate deliberation and discussion among mid- and late-career faculty in various stages of career transition planning. The workshop included individual and small-group activities and a takeaway packet/toolkit for career transition planning. We conducted mixed methods analyses of postworkshop survey data to evaluate the workshop content, methods, and toolkit.

Results: The workshop was implemented six times, at four national conferences, one state-level conference, and one single institution, for a total of 207 participants. Evaluations were completed by 60% of participants. Thirty-one percent were thinking generally about transition, 40% were making specific plans for transition within 1-5 years, 15% were currently in transition, and 10% had fully transitioned. Perception of workshop objectives met received a median ranking of 4 (rated on a 5-point Likert scale). Participants reported positive outcomes, including taking time to think/reflect, finding starting points for transition planning, and sharing conversations.

Discussion: This highly rated, interactive workshop provides support and practical tools for faculty considering late-career transitions. In addition to providing resources for individual faculty, this workshop has value for an institution to support their senior-level faculty. We encourage the incorporation of this workshop into institutional faculty development programming to ensure a career lifespan approach to faculty development.