Faculty Futures Initiative

FFI was a 3-year (9/96-9/99) contract awarded to the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) from the Division of Medicine (DOM), Bureau of Health Professions (BHPr) of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) (contract No. 240-96-0026). View the Summary Report HERE.

FFI Tasks

  • Develop and implement plan for analyzing faculty development needs
  • Prepare needs assessment report
  • Develop 5-year strategic plan for family medicine faculty development
  • Select and implement three priority projects
  • Pilot test accreditation guidelines for family medicine faculty development programs

Modifications to FFI Contract

Conduct 1-day conference showcasing Title VII-funded family medicine faculty development programs (April 1998)
Update and revise the Preceptor Education Project
Update on family medicine faculty need

Five-Year Strategic Plan

Seven goals for family medicine faculty were outlined by FFI in its 5-year Strategic Plan. These goals were to:

  • develop a road map and framework that defines the content areas and needed competencies by various types of faculty;
  • identify and disseminate useful models of faculty development for faculty of various types in various settings;
  • identify mechanisms for reaching community preceptors with faculty development;
  • identify competencies needed to succeed in positions of leadership and/or improve leadership skills among physicians who aspire to such positions, with a special emphasis on the development of female and minority faculty;
  • increase the number of family medicine faculty in leadership positions, that number being based on a process whereby an appropriate mix of research-trained and clinically trained faculty is identified for the future;
  • maintain numbers of people entering into family medicine to maintain the pipeline into the family medicine faculty workforce;
  • assure long-term viability of faculty development programs in family medicine so that they can continue to provide sustained and appropriate levels of service, scholarship, and leadership to family medicine.


The following projects were conducted through FFI as initial implementation strategies to reach the above goals:

  • Project 1. Family Medicine Faculty Database Design and Maintenance Planning
  • Project 2. Clustering of Family Medicine Faculty Competencies Along a Continuum of Faculty Types
  • Project 3. Delivery and Dissemination Methods for Family Medicine Faculty Development
  • Preceptor Education Project, 2nd Edition
  • Pilot Test of Accreditation Guidelines for Family Medicine Faculty Development Fellowship Programs
  • Title VII Faculty Development: Current Results and Future Directions Conference Held April 21-22, 1998 Chicago
  • Redefining the Need: An Update on Family Medicine Faculty Recruitment

Project Team and Advisory Committee Members:

William Anderson, PhD; Carole Bland, PhD; Ardis Davis, MSW (Project Manager); Thomas DeWitt, MD; Julie Dostal, MD; Montgomery Douglas, MD; John Frey, MD; Julea Garner, MD; Dona Harris, PhD (Project Co-Director); Richard Holloway, PhD (Advisory Committee Chair); Katherine Krause, MD (Project Director); William Mygdal, EdD; Adriana Padilla, MD; Kent Sheets, PhD; Roger Sherwood, CAE (Project Administrator); Annie Lea Shuster; Kelly Skeff, MD; Jeannette South-Paul, MD; Jeff Stearns, MD; Jeff Susman, MD; Mary Willard, MD

Federal Project Officer: Elsie Quinones, MA