Research ArticleOpen Access

Factors Affecting Transfer of Training to the Workplace after Faculty Development Program: what do Trainers Think?

Volume 3 - Issue 3

**Muhammad Zafar Iqbal* and Mona Hmoud Al Sheikh**

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- Department of Medical Education, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia
*Corresponding author: Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, Department of medical education, Building 400, King Fahd University Hospital, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia

Received: March 12, 2018; Published: April 03, 2018

DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2018.03.000905

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Abstract

Introduction: Faculty development plays pivotal role in medical education if the institutes aim to develop competent and effective teachers. The eventual goal of faculty development is to transfer the newly acquired knowledge and skills to workplace to influence learning. If the training programs fail to foster transfer of training then the effectiveness of these training activities decreases significantly.

Objective: The current study aims to explore the factors that are involved in hindering or aiding the transfer of training (newly learned competencies) to workplace i.e., educational milieu.

Methods: This is cross-sectional qualitative study that has used purposive sampling technique. Seven program developers contributed in the study. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews, which was then analysed using thematic analysis. The interviews were commenced between October 2017 to January 2018.

Results: The interviews with program developers and faculty trainers revealed that transfer of training to educational practices is a complex and multidimensional process that is influenced by many variables which can categorized broadly into 3 groups: trainee characteristics, training design features and environmental factors.

Conclusion: The current study has implications for understanding the learning transfer after faculty development program and has provided a brief overview of the individual, programmatic and environmental factors that influence the transfer of training to educational setup. More research is required to understand the complexities of training transfer in detail, especially in the context of health sciences education.

Keywords: Transfer of training; Faculty development; Faculty training; Staff development; Teaching competence