Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The medical educator career pathway is not well defined, and a substantial proportion of medical teaching is delivered by clinicians who are not employed by medical schools nor trained as educators. The Clinical Medical Education Fellow (CMEF) programme at the University of Auckland offers medical graduates protected time to engage in teaching, research, and academic service. This study examines former CMEFs' experience and assesses the impact of this role on their intentions to become medical educators. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted with ten CMEFs interviewed. Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify themes that described the CMEF experience and impact. RESULTS: We identified three overarching themes: 'navigating academia and developing as educators', 'tensions between clinical practice and pursing an educator career', and 'strategies to attract medical graduates to become educators'. Participants valued the CMEF programme for enhancing teaching skills, gaining insights into the academic environment, and understanding of medical education. However, the short-term nature of the role, insufficient protected time, financial constraints, and the demands of clinical practice limited the translation of these experiences into long-term academic careers. CONCLUSIONS: Despite finding the CMEF experience valuable, most participants did not pursue formal educator roles beyond the programme. Systemic changes, including raising the profile of educational scholarship, better integration of teaching within clinical roles and enhanced recognition of educational contributions, are necessary to make the medical educator a viable career path for medical graduates. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-025-02594-3.