Literature shows that faculty development programmes are not organizationally embedded in academic hospitals. This leaves medical teaching a low and informal status. The purpose of this article is to explore how organizational literature can strengthen our understanding of embedding faculty development in organizational development, and to provide a useful example of organizational development with regards to medical teaching and faculty development. Constructing a framework for organizational development from the literature, based on expert brainstorming. This framework is applied to a case study. A framework for organizational development is described. Applied in a context of medical teaching, these organizational insights show the process (and progress) of embedding faculty development in organizational development. Organizational development is a necessary condition for assuring sustainable faculty development for high-quality medical teaching. Organizational policies can only work in an organization that is developing. Recommendations for further development and future research are discussed.