Medical School Faculty Appointments

Ranks and Titles

The medical school has six medical faculty ranks: lecturer, instructor, associate (discontinued in 1988 for new appointments), assistant professor, associate professor, and professor.

A new category of full-time faculty appointment titled clinical associate was created in 1999. Appointment in this category is without rank and can be offered to health professionals whose total compensation is provided by an approved medical school source but who are geographically based outside the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University and who have no teaching, research, or academic administrative responsibilities.

The term clinical is added to the title of a part-time or contributed service faculty member whose primary academic or professional appointment is at the University, for example, assistant professor of clinical medicine.

The term adjunct is added to the title of a faculty member whose primary academic or professional appointment is at another institution or organization and who will remain based at the other institution/organization. An example is adjunct assistant professor of medicine.

The term visiting is added to the title of a faculty member whose primary academic or professional appointment is at another academic institution or organization and who will be based at Northwestern University for a limited period. An example is visiting assistant professor of medicine.

The figure below illustrates regular faculty appointment categories, ranks, and titles.

 
The University also makes faculty-level research appointments. Intended for professional research personnel, these limited-term appointments do not involve teaching or clinical responsibilities and salaries of these appointees are paid from research grants or contracts. An example for this appointment category is research assistant professor of medicine. Refer to the section on Faculty-Level Research Appointments for additional information.

A faculty member who retires after age 55 and has a minimum of 10 years of continuous service to the University may be granted emeritus status upon recommendation by the dean and subject to approval by the provost and Board of Trustees. An example of this title is associate professor emeritus of medicine.