TURNOVER OF DEANS OF MEDICINE DURING THE LAST 5 DECADES

This report uses published information on the tenures of the 862 U.S. medical school deans who served from 1940-41 through 1990-91 to ascert ain whether the turnover of deans has increased historically. The data confirm the widespread impression that there has been increasing inst ability of medical school leadership in recent decades. The proportion of deans who survive to a specific tenure in office has diminished, a nd the proportion of schools with new deans has increased, although wi th marked yearly fluctuations. Furthermore, the frequency of deans' tu rnover has not been evenly distributed among medical schools. Some sch ools have had large numbers of short-tenured deans, while other school s have had only a few deans over the five decades studied. The authors speculate that the rise in the turnover of deans may be related to th e criteria used for their selection and/or because American academic m edical centers have grown in size and are increasing in organizational complexity. The authors urge that future research that explores the c auses of recent deans' turnover should incorporate modern management a nd statistical techniques and consider organizational variables as wel l as the personal and professional characteristics of deans.