IMPLEMENTING A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO MANAGING FACULTY ROLES, REWARDS, AND DEVELOPMENT IN AN ERA OF CHANGE

The current environment in which medicine is taught and practiced requ ires that medical schools pay increased attention to the faculty membe r's roles, rewards, career development, and productivity. Medical scho ols must make strategic decisions about the allocation of resources th at can nurture their faculties and support the activities in academic and community settings in which faculty are involved. From 1993 to 199 5 Allegheny University of the Health Sciences (formerly Medical Colleg e of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University) designed a comprehensive s ystem for the professional development of faculty. This system is base d upon expanded categories of faculty academic activity and scholarshi p. New programs were implemented to reorient faculty toward conducting and documenting the expanded array of scholarly activities. The main characteristics of the new system are the establishment of formally de fined performance expectations, the vertical alignment of the individu al faculty member's objectives with the department's mission and the s chool's mission, and an increasing emphasis upon faculty interdependen ce, accountability, and use of sound business practices. The authors d escribe these and other aspects of the design of the new system in det ail and report initial results and lessons learned from the system's i mplementation, evaluation, and dissemination throughout the university . The long-term success of this comprehensive professional development program will be assessed over time by observing how this institution advances its mission in a well-planned and cost-effective manner that retains talented, productive, and professionally fulfilled faculty.