Junior Faculty Development Program
About
The Junior Faculty Development Program (JFDP) empowers junior faculty in academic medicine. A cohort-based program spanning an academic year, the JFDP helps faculty establish a solid foundation for a thriving career. Participants will develop skills that support their professional development across their roles and responsibilities, including:
- Strategic Career Planning
- Mentorship and Networking
- Writing and Publication
- Research and Scholarship
- Education
- Clinical Work
Along the way, participants will network with faculty across UVA and build a community of early-career scholars to support them throughout their career.
The program runs from October 8, 2025 – May 13, 2026.
Sessions are held in person twice monthly on Wednesdays from 8:00am-10:00am.
Participation entails:
- attending all sessions.
- compiling a JFDP portfolio—a collection of the work they complete throughout the year.
- planning, developing, and disseminating a mentored scholarly project that is congruent with their professional goals and that will strengthen their case for promotion and tenure.
- participating in a capstone conference where they present their scholarly project.
Application
- Request for applications posted: April 17, 2025
- Submit application here no later than May 23, 2025
- Selected participants notified: May 30, 2025
Contact, Monique Dufour, Director of Faculty Development, for additional application information.
The curriculum is relevant for all SOM junior faculty. Faculty members who will benefit most include:
- Assistant professors who aspire to academic advancement
- Assistant and/or “early” associate professors who have joined the institution within the past three years
- Faculty who are seeking or engaged in a career transition (i.e. change of focus to education/education research, or new administrative position)
Current participants:
Previous participants:
This program is modeled after the junior faculty development programs at the Penn State College of Medicine and University of Massachusetts Medical School. We recognize the work and research of our PSU and UMMS colleagues.
Empowering Junior Faculty: Penn State’s Faculty Development and Mentoring Program.
Thorndyke LT, Gusic ME, George JH, Quillen DA & Milner RJ. Academic Medicine 81: 668–73 (2006).
(View on PubMed)
Functional Mentoring: A Practical Approach with Multilevel Outcomes.
Thorndyke LT, Gusic ME & Milner RJ. Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions 28: 157–64 (2008).
(View on PubMed)
The Essential Value of Projects in Faculty Development.
Gusic ME, Milner RJ, Tisdell EJ, Taylor EW, Quillen DA and Thorndyke LT. Academic Medicine 85: 1484–91 (2010).
(View on PubMed)