Criteria of the "educators' pyramid" fulfilled by medical school faculty promoted on a teaching pathway

Purpose. To compare the results of academic promotion to associate professo r and professor via the teaching pathway at the Wake Forest University Scho ol of Medicine (WFUSM) with the criteria of the "educators' pyramid" of Sac hdeva et al. Method. Data on all candidates promoted to associate professor and professo r in the academic years 1995-2000 at WFUSM were collected from candidates' portfolios and compared with the criteria for educator (level three) and ma ster educator (level four) from a modified version of the educators' pyrami d. Results. Of 186 faculty promoted, 38 were on the teaching pathway. Everyone promoted on the pathway fulfilled all teacher and master teacher criteria. All educator criteria were found among the associate professors, and all b ut one of the master educator criteria were found among professors. More th an 75% of associate professors demonstrated "sustained participation in sig nificant amounts of effective teaching in more than one modality" and "serv ice as a medical student clerkship, course, or residency director." Less th an 30% demonstrated "service as assistant dean of education or student affa irs" or "service as the chair of departmental education committees." Most a ssociate professors had not regularly participated in national education me etings. For professors, more than 50% demonstrated "achievement of leadersh ip positions in national organizations, committees, and medical school educ ation"; "recognition as a national leader in specialty education"; and "men torship of other faculty members locally and nationally." Less than 30% dem onstrated "pursuit of further training in education through workshops, facu lty development programs, or educational fellowship programs" or "developme nt and implementation of nationally-recognized (in education) innovative cu rricula or teaching programs." No one promoted to professor on the teaching pathway had made what was considered to be a landmark contribution to educ ational research and development. Conclusion. The findings suggest that the educators pyramid is generalizabl e to medical faculty bring promoted on a teaching pathway at WFUSM. Documen tation of achievement in teaching criteria is essential and faculty should be encouraged to maintain records of accomplishment before becoming candida tes for promotion.