Academic Promotion at a Medical School

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 318; no. 12; pp. 741 - 747
• Main Authors: Batshaw, Mark L, Plotnick, Leslie P, Petty, Brent G, Woolf, Patricia K, Mellits, E. David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Massachusetts Medical Society 24.03.1988
• Subjects: Careers; Departments; Medical research; Medical schools; Medicine; Questionnaires; Researchers; School faculty; Statistical analysis; Teachers
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJM198803243181204

We studied promotions at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to determine whether clinicianteachers are less likely to be promoted or are promoted later in life than researchers and whether those who are promoted have more articles published than those who are not promoted. Over a five-year period, 93 percent of candidates for the rank of associate professor and 79 percent of the candidates for the rank of professor were promoted. There were no significant differences between clinical and research faculty members in terms of the probability that they would be promoted or their age at promotion to either associate professor or professor. Despite these findings, the responses to a questionnaire indicated that former faculty members perceived clinician-teachers as less likely than researchers to be promoted. Those who were promoted had had about twice as many articles published in peer-reviewed journals as those who were not promoted. We recommend improved counseling of medical school faculty members and more extensive discussion of the criteria for promotion and the chances of academic success. (N Engl J Med 1988; 318:741–7.) MOST young faculty members who begin fulltime employment at a school of medicine hope eventually to reach the rank of professor. This goal often appears elusive, however, especially in clinical departments. In an attempt to clarify this issue, we reviewed the system of promotion and reappointment at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. At Hopkins, the same system of reappointment and promotion applies to all full-time faculty members; this is a "single-track" system. The title of assistant professor can be held for up to seven years before a mandatory reappointment review. If promoted to associate professor, the faculty member may . . .