Document Detail


Commentary: Missing the elephant in my office: recommendations for part-time careers in academic medicine.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  19881414     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Several recent articles in this journal, including the article by Linzer and colleagues in this issue, discuss and promote the concept of part-time careers in academic medicine as a solution to the need to achieve a work-life balance and to address the changing demographics of academic medicine. The article by Linzer and colleagues presents the consensus of a task force that attempted to address practical considerations for part-time work in academic internal medicine. Missing from these discussions, however, are a consensus on the definition of part-time work, consideration of how such strategies would be available to single parents, how time or resources will be allocated to part-time faculty to participate in professional associations, develop professional networks, and maintain currency in their field, and how part-time work can allow for the development of expertise in research and scholarly activity. Most important, the discussions about the part-time solution do not address the root cause of dissatisfaction and attrition: the ever-increasing and unsustainable workload of full-time faculty. The realization that an academic full-time career requires a commitment of 80 hours per week begs the question of whether part-time faculty would agree to work 40 hours a week for part-time pay. The historical underpinnings of the current situation, the implications of part-time solutions for the academy, and the consequences of choosing part-time work as the primary solution are discussed. Alternative strategies for addressing some of the problems facing full-time faculty are proposed.
Authors:
Deborah Helitzer
Related Documents :
19385414 - Emergency oxygen delivery 2: patients with asthma and copd.
383394 - Nosology and therapy of mental illness in ayurveda.
21033594 - An overview of pharmacology and acute pain: part one.
10565874 - Endovascular management of patients with cerebral arteriovenous malformations.
1747804 - Intrapartum obstetric emergencies.
10165234 - Career survival strategies for materiel managers.
Publication Detail:
Type:  Comment; Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges     Volume:  84     ISSN:  1938-808X     ISO Abbreviation:  Acad Med     Publication Date:  2009 Oct 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2009-11-02     Completed Date:  2009-12-01     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8904605     Medline TA:  Acad Med     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  1330-2     Citation Subset:  AIM; IM    
Affiliation:
University of New Mexico School of Medicine, MSC 09-5040, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA. helitzer@salud.unm.edu
Export Citation:
APA/MLA Format     Download EndNote     Download BibTex
MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Career Mobility
Faculty, Medical / organization & administration*
Humans
Job Satisfaction
Life Style
Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / classification,  organization & administration*
Physicians, Women / statistics & numerical data
Schools, Medical / manpower,  organization & administration
United States
Workload
Comments/Corrections
Comment On:
Acad Med. 2009 Oct;84(10):1395-400   [PMID:  19881429 ]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


Previous Document:  Commentary: Interim leadership of academic departments at U.S. medical schools.
Next Document:  Commentary: Not about us without us.