Faculty development through clinical research skills is a specific goal of the general Clinical Research Center at the Universidad Central del Caribe School of Medicine. It is imperative that the GCRC Center secures the capacity for self-sustainment in a finite period of RCMI funding. To accomplish this goal several objectives must be achieved if we are to move the institution to a higher level of competitiveness in clinical research productivity.
The specific aims of the project are: to promote faculty, fellows and resident involvement in clinical research activities; to create an infrastructure that will allow the exposure, implementation and development of research skills in physicians integrated within the traditional curriculum of clinical training; and the implementation of strategies for the assessment of the development and the performance of the Faculty Development Activities. To accomplish the aims of the faculty development unit we should set up some strategies concerning the constitution of a complementary and synergistic team with a high commitment with research, the organization of structured, not-structured teaching and tutorial activities, and the development of models of assessment. The necessary short and intermediate steps for the fulfillment of these strategies are as follows : To Develop and Integrate a Complementary and Multidisciplinary Research Oriented Team to the Clinical Departments; to Give Logistic Support and Tutorial to Faculty Members, Fellows and Residents Which Need to Develop a Research Oriented Activity; to Develop a Formal and Coherent Structure of Research Oriented Activities Such as Conferences, Seminars and Workshops; to Develop a Coherent Assessment Strategy; to Reward Faculty Efforts and Accomplishments in Clinical Research Activities and finally to promote Participation of Women in Research.
