EVALUATING FACULTY CLINICAL EXCELLENCE IN THE ACADEMIC HEALTH-SCIENCES CENTER

Although excellence in the clinical care of patients is the cornerston e of medicine, academic health sciences centers have increasingly give n more weight to research and correspondingly less emphasis to patient care. To better recognize and reward clinical excellence, it is first necessary to effectively evaluate physicians' performances in patient care. In addition to addressing the value of faculty clinical excelle nce in the academic setting, the authors discuss different approaches to clinical assessment, theoretical and practical problems in assessin g the performances of clinical faculty, and a system of evaluation bei ng initiated at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. This sy stem of evaluation combines-in annual individual reviews-a limited amo unt of objective assessment data with subjective evaluations from seve ral sources. The objective data include board certification and recert ification, analysis of outcomes data, and documentation of scholarly a ctivity. The subjective evaluations include letters of recognition and appreciation from faculty colleagues and written observations from de partment chairs, housestaff, students, and nurses. The system has been accepted by department chairs, members of the Promotion and Tenure Co mmittee, and the general faculty. In implementing this new system, per iodic review of the pace and direction of change will be crucial to tr ack progress and provide feedback for further modification.