Recognizing diverse forms of scholarship in the modern medical college

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.