Medical School Faculty Appointments

Academic Career Tracks

Four academic career tracks: investigator, investigator-clinician, clinician-investigator, and clinician are available for full-time faculty career development. The emphasis on research and clinical activity varies with the track. All faculty members are expected to contribute teaching and institutional service.

• The investigator track (tenure-eligible) is designed for scientists who do not have clinical or other service responsibilities and will spend the great majority of their time performing original, independent research. These faculty members will have teaching requirements that can be satisfied by graduate research training and/or medical student education. Their research will address important, unresolved questions in the sciences or medicine, including medical education and the medical humanities.
  
  The investigator-clinician track (tenure-eligible) is designed for physicians or other health care professionals who will devote the great majority of their time to original, independent research. In addition to teaching responsibilities, these faculty members will have clinical or other service responsibilities, but the time and effort devoted to service will generally be limited. The research programs of these faculty members will address the sciences or medicine, including medical education and the medical humanities.
  
  The clinician-investigator track (nontenure-eligible) is designed for physicians or other health care professionals who will spend at least half of their time in clinical or other service activities. Distinguished performance in clinical care or other services is expected. In addition to teaching responsibilities, these faculty members will pursue original research, but the time devoted to research will be more limited than for a faculty member on the investigator-clinician track. Their research work may be in the sciences or medicine and often will be stimulated and/or informed by clinical experience.
  
  The clinician track (nontenure-eligible) is designed for physicians or other health care professionals who will spend the great majority of their time in clinical activities including the teaching and training of health professionals. Scholarly activity is encouraged in full-time faculty members appointed to this track. In many cases, this involves work with clinical trials, the analysis and reporting of clinical experience, collaboration on research projects directed by other faculty members, or educational scholarship.

Each academic track has a set of standards for the evaluation of promotion to the three professorial ranks. The standards by rank for the four tracks are contained in the Promotion and Tenure Standards section of the handbook.

Full-time faculty scientists without clinical or other substantial service responsibilities are appointed to the investigator track. These faculty members must qualify for the rank of assistant professor before appointment to the investigator track. Faculty members who do not qualify may be appointed for no more than two years at the rank of undifferentiated instructor (no track designation). Full-time faculty members with service responsibilities that usually include clinical activities can be appointed to any of the four tracks. These faculty members may be appointed at the level of undifferentiated instructor (no track designation) but must be reviewed for promotion to assistant professor by the end of their second year in the instructor rank. Full-time faculty members with service responsibility appointed at or promoted to the rank of assistant professor can be undifferentiated (no track designation) but must be appointed to a career track by the end of their third year in the assistant professor rank. The maximum period that a junior faculty member can hold an undifferentiated appointment is five years. Faculty members appointed to the ranks of associate professor or professor must be placed on a career track at the time of appointment.

As described above, junior faculty members (instructor and assistant professor) must select a career track during their five years of appointment. They cannot switch from one career track to another after five years from their initial faculty appointments. This five-year period includes both undifferentiated time and time on track.

Contributed service faculty members are appointed to the clinician track. Part-time faculty members with clinical responsibility who are compensated in total from approved medical school sources can be appointed to any of the four tracks. Part-time faculty members compensated from both external and school sources are appointed to the clinician track.

Faculty members must request appointment to a career track or a career track switch, and department chairs are responsible for recommending these actions to the medical school administration.