The road to success: Factors affecting the speed of promotion of academic radiologists

Rationale and Objectives. The authors' purpose was to determine the factors influencing the speed of promotion of academic radiologists. Materials and Methods. Three hundred forty-three surveys from faculty membe rs of academic radiology departments with continuous academic careers were analyzed for time in rank at assistant and associate professor levels in re lation to publication rate, grant funding rate, and distribution of profess ional time. Individuals promoted faster than the median time (6 years for a ssistant professors) 5 years for associate professors were considered "fast track" and were compared with the remainder of the group. Results, At the assistant professor level, fast track individuals had signi ficantly higher rates of total publications and original articles than did others. At the level of associate professor, fast track individuals had sig nificantly faster rates of publication of original articles, but no signifi cant difference existed in total publication I ate. No significant differen ce was found in the rate of funding of fast track individuals and others. T hose with funding were not more likely to be on a fast track than those wit hout funding, Fast track individuals spent significantly more time in admin istration at the assistant professor level than did other faculty, but no o ther significant differences were discovered in time distribution at the as sistant or associate professor level. Conclusions. The rate of publishing original articles at the assistant and associate professor levels acid the rate of overall publication at the assi stant professor level were the most important parameters in predicting spee d of promotion.