Commentary: Principle-Based Teaching Competencies

The emphasis on resident competencies advocated by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and other medical educators1 has brought new focus on the teaching competencies of our faculty. The expectation that teaching faculty possess a minimum level of teaching competency has been under discussion at our institution. In our recent (2008) peer-reviewed workshop at the Association of American Medical Colleges, we found that, among the 28 participants, no school was providing faculty development for competence in teaching. As increasing public scrutiny focuses on the medical professions, medical educators will be asked to be more accountable for training programs they are involved in and the teaching skills they possess.2