Educating, Administrating, Promoting, and Evaluating: The Roles of Health Professions Education Community of Practice Facilitators.
6 affiliations
- 1Office of Medical Education Research and Development, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, East Lansing, MI, USA.
- 2Center for Educational Enhancement, Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences, West Des Moines, IA, USA.
- 3Department of Pediatrics, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.
- 4College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
- 5Department of Medicine, College of Medicine University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
- 6Department of Anesthesiology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, USA.
Abstract
Communities of Practice (CoP) are a model for faculty development in health professions education (HPE) that focuses on continuous improvement and a culture of shared responsibility. CoP facilitators are integral to the development and sustainability of CoPs. The researchers examined the experiences of HPE CoP facilitators by identifying their tasks, challenges, and strategies for overcoming barriers to guide CoP facilitation. Researchers engaged in a qualitative study of their own CoP facilitator experiences (n = 5) that were collected through a collaborative reflective inquiry using question prompts for guided reflection. Responses were examined utilising iterative thematic analysis in four phases. Positionality and reflexivity were considered through ongoing discussion among the research team. Four themes emerged to describe the responsibilities of CoP facilitators: Educator, Administrator, Promoter, and Evaluator. Challenges for facilitators included time, scheduling, defining participation and engagement, planning content, lack of formalised incentives, and measuring outcomes. Challenges were addressed by creating opportunities for asynchronous engagement, flexibility to meet the needs of participants, valuing and celebrating efforts rather than only outcomes, and focusing on the importance of CoPs. Our findings identified key roles and tasks of CoP facilitators which, when grouped into "before", "during", and "after" categories, provided a tool to specify the work facilitators may expect when developing, sustaining, and communicating about CoPs. These findings add facilitator-specific guidance, complementing previous work describing general CoP phases. The barriers identified within this study build upon those found in CoP literature within HPE and suggest contributors to sustainability.
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BibTeX
@article{pylman2026educating,
title = {{Educating, Administrating, Promoting, and Evaluating: The Roles of Health Professions Education Community of Practice Facilitators.}},
author = {Stacey Pylman and Kathleen Weiss and Amy Creel and Ellen Aster and Breanna Sherrow-Serrano and Rachel Moquin},
journal = {Journal of CME},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1080/28338073.2026.2747417},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42910311},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Educating, Administrating, Promoting, and Evaluating: The Roles of Health Professions Education Community of Practice Facilitators.
AU - Stacey Pylman
AU - Kathleen Weiss
AU - Amy Creel
AU - Ellen Aster
AU - Breanna Sherrow-Serrano
AU - Rachel Moquin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/20
JO - Journal of CME
DO - 10.1080/28338073.2026.2747417
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42910311
AB - Communities of Practice (CoP) are a model for faculty development in health professions education (HPE) that focuses on continuous improvement and a culture of shared responsibility. CoP facilitators are integral to the development and sustainability of CoPs. The researchers examined the experiences of HPE CoP facilitators by identifying their tasks, challenges, and strategies for overcoming barriers to guide CoP facilitation. Researchers engaged in a qualitative study of their own CoP facilitator experiences (n = 5) that were collected through a collaborative reflective inquiry using question prompts for guided reflection. Responses were examined utilising iterative thematic analysis in four phases. Positionality and reflexivity were considered through ongoing discussion among the research team. Four themes emerged to describe the responsibilities of CoP facilitators: Educator, Administrator, Promoter, and Evaluator. Challenges for facilitators included time, scheduling, defining participation and engagement, planning content, lack of formalised incentives, and measuring outcomes. Challenges were addressed by creating opportunities for asynchronous engagement, flexibility to meet the needs of participants, valuing and celebrating efforts rather than only outcomes, and focusing on the importance of CoPs. Our findings identified key roles and tasks of CoP facilitators which, when grouped into "before", "during", and "after" categories, provided a tool to specify the work facilitators may expect when developing, sustaining, and communicating about CoPs. These findings add facilitator-specific guidance, complementing previous work describing general CoP phases. The barriers identified within this study build upon those found in CoP literature within HPE and suggest contributors to sustainability.
SN - 2833-8073
ER -