The APGO Academic Scholars and Leaders Program: Supporting obstetrics and gynecology faculty development for 20 years

Purpose: We evaluate the impacts of the Academic Scholars and Leaders (ASL) Program in achieving 3 key objectives: treatment of education as a scholarly pursuit, improved education leadership, and career advancement. Materials and methods: We report on the twenty-year experience of the ASL Program—a national, longitudinal faculty development program of the Association of Professors of Obstetrics and Gynecology (APGO) covering instruction, curriculum development/program evaluation, assessment/feedback, leadership/professional development, and educational scholarship. We conducted a cross-sectional, online survey of ASL participants who graduated in 1999–2017. We sought evidence of impact using Kirkpatrick’s 4-level framework. Descriptive quantitative data were analyzed, and open-ended comments were organized using content analysis. Results: 64% (260) of graduates responded. The vast majority (96%) felt the program was extremely worthwhile (Kirkpatrick level 1). Graduates cited learned skills they had applied to their work, most commonly curricular development (48%) and direct teaching (38%) (Kirkpatrick 2&3 A). Since participation, 82% of graduates have held institutional, education-focused leadership roles (Kirkpatrick 3B). Nineteen percent had published the ASL project as a manuscript and 46% additional education papers (Kirkpatrick 3B). Conclusions: The APGO ASL program has been associated with successful outcomes in treatment of education as a scholarly pursuit, education leadership, and career advancement. Going forward, APGO is considering ways to diversify the ASL community and to support educational research training.