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Health System Clinicians

Faculty appointed in this track are full-time and part-time clinicians who contribute to the mission of the medical school by practicing in affiliated hospitals or clinics, and may participate in clinical trials or student and/or resident teaching programs in variable amounts up to 5% upon request. Health System Clinicians are typically employed by affiliated clinical entities such as a clinical practice plan of Northwestern Medicine, the Pediatric Faculty Foundation, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab or others as they exist from time to time. On occasion, physicians in private practice may be appointed in this track if they actively contribute to advancing the vision, mission, and values of Northwestern Medicine or another of the clinical affiliates. Faculty in this track will also pursue continuing medical education, earning at least enough credits to maintain licensure. The clinical institutions where they work will also recognize Health System Clinicians, where appropriate, by the professional standards committee of their practice plan. Health System Clinician appointments are unpaid by the University, non-tenure-eligible, and normally rankless. 

Faculty in this track will normally be titled as Health System Clinician; however, those eligible for membership on the medical staff of Northwestern Memorial Hospital are designated specifically as Health System Clinician/NMH and those eligible for membership on the medical staff of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago as Health System Clinician/LCH

A small number of Health System Clinicians, may on occasion be designated Health System Clinician/Academic. Faculty members on this track will typically have held an academic appointment at their previous institution just prior to their appointment at Northwestern and be practicing at a regional medical practice. They are expected to continue to engage in academic activity that will make them eligible for promotion using the criteria described for Clinician-Educators. Faculty who are initially appointed as Health System Clinicians and engage in academic activity measured as publications or similar work products subsequent to their initial appointment may be considered for transfer to the Health System Clinician/Academic track. Faculty appointed to this track will be appointed as Clinical Assistant Professor, Clinical Associate Professor, or Clinical Professor depending upon their prior academic rank and level of achievement. This is a non-tenure eligible track.

For more information, view the Information Guide for Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure (APT).

Appointment Transactions (submitted via OnBase)

  • Submit requests at least 3 weeks before the effective date. You may be asked to resubmit with a revised effective date if there is not sufficient time for appointment processing.
  • If the candidate has a visa, write "VISA" in two places: (1) at the top of the first page of appointment packet, and (2) in the Comments and Notes section of the OnBase submission form. 
  • Do not contact FAO for status updates or appointment letters unless more than 3 weeks have passed since you submitted a correct and complete request (i.e., if an OnBase transaction is rejected and you need to resubmit, the 3-week timeline begins at the time FAO receives your resubmission). 
  • Recognize that transactions route through multiple offices, and approval by FAO does not mean that a request is fully processed. View OnBase Routing Workflows for more information.