Journal of Regional Medical Campuses

Being There "Being There" - Building Productive Academic Teams across Distance and Over Time

Denise Kay

University of Central Florida College of Medicine

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/jrmc.v1i2.995

Keywords: Community of Practice, Web 2.0, group development, virtual communities, virtual groups, professional network, Google

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Abstract

In response to the projected shortage of physicians and the needs of traditionally underserved communities, medical schools are opening regional medical campuses (RMCs).  However, faculty members on RMCs face unique professional development issues, such as lack of access to distant university resources and colleagues. At the same time, access to user-friendly technologies that support virtual communities, asynchronous and audio/visual synchronous communication, screen share features and inexpensive artifact storage has expanded. The authors explored the viability of using these technologies to establish and maintain a virtual community of practice (CoP) for medical educators.  We use Tuckman’s four stages of group development to describe the evolution of our virtual community and provide tips for building virtual CoPs. Each current member of the community completed a short answer survey modeled after Brookfield’s critical incident questionnaire. We include applicable quotes from charter members, as well as members who joined the community later in the formation process, which highlight their experiences members of the community. We believe technologies can support productive virtual communities and prescribe them as viable options for addressing the unique needs of faculty at RMCs or for faculty who could benefit from establishing a cohesive, productive professional network beyond their home institution.