A new academic track at the Warren Alpert Medical School will help biomedical faculty be recognized for their clinical expertise.
Before the new clinician scholar track was approved, Warren Alpert offered three academic tracks — two research tracks and one teaching track — to help faculty members achieve promotions and other benefits.
The track, which rewards faculty with national and international reputation for clinical research, was approved for immediate implementation at an Oct. 1 faculty meeting.
On Oct. 1, a faculty vote approved the immediate implementation of the new clinician scholar faculty track at the Warren Alpert Medical School for faculty who conduct clinical research.
“I have heard from department chairs and promotion committee chairs, and from experience myself as chair of our promotion committee, that there are faculty in the clinical departments who fall between tracks,” said Michele Cyr, senior associate dean for academic affairs for biology and medicine, who led the effort to create the track.
For example, a researcher may be skilled in clinical research but not meet the criteria for the research scholar track, which is based on amount of research funding received, or the teaching scholar track, which evaluates faculty based on their educational leadership experience, Cyr explained.
The new track is designed for faculty who are academically oriented and high-output scholars with leadership experience in clinical settings. National and international reputation will be considered for associate and full professorship positions, Ghada Bourjeily, a professor of medicine and health services, policy and practice who was a member of the working group behind the track, explained.
Caroline Richardson, the chair of family medicine, said the clinician scholar track could support areas of medicine which are sometimes underappreciated.
“Historically, academic medicine has focused on research and teaching as scholarship, but we are increasingly recognizing that alternative methods of innovation … play a critical role in advancing our complex health care system,” she wrote in an email to The Herald. “Adding the clinician scholar track allows us to recognize and reward faculty who make high-impact contributions in these less traditional areas of scholarship.”
For Jeffrey Borkan, assistant dean for primary care-population health, the new track “recognizes excellence in clinical activities in a similar manner to the recognition of excellence in research and education,” he wrote in an email to The Herald.
“All three elements are critical to the advancement of medicine and health in the community,” he added.
Though the process culminated in a University faculty vote early last month, the track has been seen and approved by many University bodies composed of both faculty and administrators, including the Academic Priorities Committees and the Faculty Executive Committee.
Throughout this process there was “overwhelming support,” Cyr said.
According to Bourjeily, the group is continuing to work on implementation and on accommodating those who may want to switch tracks.
The track’s approval was announced in an Oct. 21 email to BioMed faculty. Soon after the email was sent, at least three people excitedly contacted Bourjeily to say: “This is the perfect track for me.”
Francesca Grossberg is a Staff Writer covering Science and Research. She is a first-year from New York City planning to concentrate in Health and Human Biology.
