Implementation of an Education Value Unit (EVU) System to Recognize Faculty Contributions
Introduction: Faculty educational contributions are hard to quantify, but in an era of limited resources it is essential to link funding with effort. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of an educational value unit (EVU) system in an academic emergency department and to exa...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
eScholarship Publishing, University of California
2015-11-01
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| Series: | Western Journal of Emergency Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://escholarship.org/uc/item/6t29728n |
| Summary: | Introduction: Faculty educational contributions are hard to quantify, but in an era of limited
resources it is essential to link funding with effort. The purpose of this study was to determine the
feasibility of an educational value unit (EVU) system in an academic emergency department and
to examine its effect on faculty behavior, particularly on conference attendance and completion of
trainee evaluations.
Methods: A taskforce representing education, research, and clinical missions was convened
to develop a method of incentivizing productivity for an academic emergency medicine faculty.
Domains of educational contributions were defined and assigned a value based on time expended.
A 30-hour EVU threshold for achievement was aligned with departmental goals. Targets included
educational presentations, completion of trainee evaluations and attendance at didactic conferences.
We analyzed comparisons of performance during the year preceding and after implementation.
Results: Faculty (N=50) attended significantly more didactic conferences (22.7 hours v. 34.5
hours, p<0.005) and completed more trainee evaluations (5.9 v. 8.8 months, p<0.005). During
the pre-implementation year, 84% (42/50) met the 30-hour threshold with 94% (47/50) meeting
post-implementation (p=0.11). Mean total EVUs increased significantly (94.4 hours v. 109.8 hours,
p=0.04) resulting from increased conference attendance and evaluation completion without a change
in other categories.
Conclusion: In a busy academic department there are many work allocation pressures. An EVU
system integrated with an incentive structure to recognize faculty contributions increases the
importance of educational responsibilities. We propose an EVU model that could be implemented
and adjusted for differing departmental priorities at other academic departments. |
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| ISSN: | 1936-900X 1936-9018 |