Abstract:

Physicians in academic medicine have significant teaching responsibilities, yet they lgck' formal background in educational pedagogy. Although many medical centres now offer faculty development in teaching to improve instructional effectiveness, this does not provide in-depth knowledge of the science of teaching required for medical education research and careers in medical education. Physicians, who seek advanced degrees in education to enhance and complement their teaching responsibilities, often lack access to available programmes due to time commitments. The faculty development team of Cincinnati Children's HospitalMedical Centre (CCHMC) has recognized the advantages of computer technology in education as an effective method of instruction and a means to make the programme more accessible to health care professionals. in collaboration with the University of Cincinnati College of Education, CCHMC developed a graduate level, online Master's Degree in Education programme targeting physicians and other health care professionals.This online programme is delivered jointly by the University of Cincinnati and CCHMC - Division of General and Community Paediatrics. This paper provides information on how CCHMC faculty development activitiesled to the online masters programme, as well as describes its development, implementation, and current status which should provide guidelines to others offering similar online programmes.