Recognizing diverse forms of scholarship in the modern medical college

Abstract

Objectives: To determine which metrics of scholarly output have the most impact on decisions for faculty promotion, as new forms of scholarship are evolving at medical schools to answer an emerging need for increased skills specialization and interdisciplinary collaboration. Methods: University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine (UICCOM) data was used to test associations between important scholarship parameters and promotions outcomes. Two analyses were carried out. One evaluated summary data for tenure track faculty seeking promotion from Assistant to Associate professor over a 5-year period, and correlated success with the number of publications over different periods of the research career. The second sought to identify predictors of a positive tenure decision for faculty with an MD and/or a PhD, examining factors such as research publications, grant awards, timing of career transitions and departmental affiliations. Results: Promotion correlated significantly with the number of first (or last) authored publications since initial appointment (p<0.001), but not with the number of lifetime peer-reviewed publications. The best predictor of tenure was the receipt of at least 1 grant award; this held true for both MDs and PhDs. Conclusions: Despite the evolving need for faculty member involvement in interdisciplinary and collaborative projects that may not provide them with authorship opportunities or independent funding, our data suggest that they continue to be assessed based on these criteria. Medical colleges are encouraged to adopt more inclusive scholarship definitions that better fit with the reality of todays' academic mission.

Educational Scholarship in the Digital Age: A Scoping Review and Analysis of Scholarly Products

“…Novel ways to recognize digital products include publishing them on a platform with peer review and publication processes such as MedEdPORTAL (Ruiz, Mintzer, and Leipzig 2006;Reynolds and Candler, Christopher 2008) or conducting educational research to evaluate their efficacy (Cheston, Flickinger, and Chisolm 2013). Regardless, the amount of academic recognition for digital products is relatively low compared to the effort expended to build and maintain them and may limit their growth in the future (Anderson et al 2013;ProfHacker 2012).…”

Five Strategies to Effectively Use Online Resources in Emergency Medicine

“…18,19 This may inhibit the involvement of academic physicians and slow the advancement of the field. Measures must be taken to acknowledge these forms of scholarly expression on par with similar techniques for dissemination, such as national lectures, review publications, and textbook chapters.…”

Developing an Interprofessional Health Care Improvement Portfolio: Results From a Consensus Panel Process

“…1 These traditional metrics encourage finite research projects with clear quantitative findings that favor rapid improvements and faster cycle times between acquiring grant funding and publishing in academic journals. 1,2…”

“…1 These traditional metrics encourage finite research projects with clear quantitative findings that favor rapid improvements and faster cycle times between acquiring grant funding and publishing in academic journals. 1,2 In contrast, faculty contributions to health care improvement require ongoing, iterative, incremental, and often institution-specific work that is frequently not recognized or used for promotion by academic health care institutions. Faculty of all health professions who conduct health care improvement initiatives need alternative methods for recognizing rigor and impact for work that often does not have extramural grant funding and involves long, multifaceted processes with no definite endpoint.…”

“…12 Novel methods for documenting achievements and excellence beyond grants, publications, and educational portfolios are needed to foster academic tenure and promotion for individuals from all professions who excel in the field of health care improvement. 1–4…”