Julie M. Koehler, Pharm.D.

1
Finding the Pathway to Academic Success as a
Clinician-Educator

• Julie M. Koehler, Pharm.D.
• Associate Professor Chair
• Department of Pharmacy Practice,
• Butler University, College of Pharmacy Health
  Sciences
• Clinical Pharmacist in Family Medicine,
• Clarian Health, Department of Pharmacy
• Indiana University-Methodist Family Medicine
  Residency Program,
• Department of Family Medicine, Indiana University
  School of Medicine

2
Learning Objectives

• Outline potential benefits and challenges
  associated with a career in academia.
• Explain the requirements for promotion and tenure
  that are relevant for clinician-educators.
• Discuss potential strategies that may be used to
  achieve success in the academic setting.

3
You want the truth?
The truth isthe Pathway to Academic Success
as a Clinician-Educator is not easily
travelled.
4
First, you must decide Is this pathway right
for me? I know I want to be a clinician, but do
I want to be a clinician-educator?
5
What is a clinician-educator?

• Traditional medical and pharmacy college
  faculty may hold tenure-track positions which
  place strong emphasis on scholarly activities.
• A clinician-educator may hold either a
  tenure-track or non-tenure-track position in
  which considerable faculty time is spent on
  providing clinical services and experiential
  education, while still
• Participating in didactic teaching
• Providing service to the college/university
• Performing scholarly activity

Draugalis JR et al. AJPE 2006 70(1) Article 17.

Jones RF. J Med Educ
198762444-447. Parris M et al. J Med Educ
198459465-470.
6
In other words, we
clinician-educators do it all!
How is this possible?BALANCE,
Danielson!.AND understand what youre getting
yourself into!
7
Expectations of Faculty at Institutions of Higher
Education The Big Three
Service ?
Teaching ?
Scholarship ?
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Types of Pharmacy Practice
Faculty Positions
Tenure-Track Non-Tenure-Track
Teaching responsibilities may be more campus-based (e.g., coordinating core curricular courses) Scholarship requirements may be higher (e.g., quantitatively) and more original research may be required Specific time clock (e.g., 6-7 years) for promotion tenure review Teaching responsibilities may be more site-based (e.g., experiential) Scholarship requirements may be lower (e.g., quantitatively) or of a different type May be no set time clock for promotion review
Adjunct Volunteer or paid faculty with specific
teaching responsibilities but no scholarship
requirements may or may not be eligible for
promotion
9
Types of Funding for Pharmacy Practice Faculty
Positions
FULLY FUNDED CO-FUNDED
College/university pays 100 of the cost of salary plus benefits Service at practice site (if any) contractually determined College/university and practice sites share financial responsibility (e.g., each pays 50 of the cost of salary with or without benefits) Service at practice site required should be documented or defined by contractual agreement between the college/institution and practice site May be more likely to be non-tenure-track or clinical track, depending on the institution
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Titles Whats your rank?
Professor
SENIOR FACULTY
Associate Professor
(with or without tenure)
Assistant Professor Instructor Lecturer
JUNIOR FACULTY
NOTE Clinical titles may be used to
differentiate non-tenure-track faculty from
tenure-track faculty at some institutions (e.g.,
Clinical Assistant Professor)
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The Awarding of Promotion
for Non-Tenure-Track Faculty

• Process involves evaluation of the faculty
  members contributions toward the mission of the
  institution in the areas of TEACHING, SERVICE,
  and SCHOLARSHIP
• Non-tenure-track faculty are eligible for
  promotion ONLY (e.g., Assistant Professor ?
  Associate Professor)
• May be no deadline for application
• Contracts for employment may be yearly or
  multi-year

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The Awarding of Promotion AND Tenure for
Tenure-Track Faculty

• Process involves evaluation of the faculty
  members contributions toward the mission of the
  institution in the areas of TEACHING, SERVICE,
  and SCHOLARSHIP
• Tenure-track faculty are eligible for promotion
  AND tenure (e.g., Assistant Professor ? Associate
  Professor with Tenure)
• Always a deadline (e.g., 6-7 years) for
  application

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The Meaning of Tenure

• The ultimate peer recognition
• A long-term commitment by the institution
• Faculty member must have demonstrated good
  citizenship
• The institution must have reason to believe the
  faculty member will demonstrate continued or
  increased productivity
• Tenure is not necessarily lifelong security!
• NOTE Tenure is UNLIKELY to be awarded in the
  absence of peer-reviewed scholarship!

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What is meant by scholarship?

• It is the advancement of knowledge
• It is the dissemination of information through
  presentation and/or publication, for knowledge
  is of little value, unless it is disseminated
  (AACP Commission to Implement Change in
  Pharmaceutical Education)
• Peer-review of scholarly work is KEY

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Scholarship Redefined

• Scholarship of Discovery
• Scholarship of Integration
• Scholarship of Application
• Scholarship of Teaching

Boyer EL. Scholarship Reconsidered Priorities
of the Professoriate, The Carnegie Foundation for
the Advancement of Teaching, Princeton, NJ, 1990.

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Scholarship of Discovery

• Investigation or experimentation aimed at the
  discovery and interpretation of the facts
• Original research ? the creation of new
  knowledge

• Which of the following is an example of the
  scholarship of discovery
• Book chapter on a pharmacotherapy topic
• Case report on an adverse drug reaction
• Article describing the methodology and results of
  your clinical outcomes research

Boyer EL. Scholarship Reconsidered Priorities
of the Professoriate, The Carnegie Foundation for
the Advancement of Teaching, Princeton, NJ, 1990.

17
Scholarship of Integration

• Organization of existing knowledge
• Bringing together disparate concepts and
  principles and synthesizing them into a new
  perspective
• Making connections across disciplines

• Which of the following is an example of the
  scholarship of integration
• Review article on a pharmacotherapy topic
• Case report on an adverse drug reaction
• Article describing the development of a unique
  clinical service

Boyer EL. Scholarship Reconsidered Priorities
of the Professoriate, The Carnegie Foundation for
the Advancement of Teaching, Princeton, NJ, 1990.


Popovich NG,
Abel SR. Am J Pharm Educ 2002 66 59-65.
18
Scholarship of Application

• Sharing of practical knowledge (i.e., best
  practices)
• Previously discovered information is applied to
  solve problems and new insights and understanding
  results

• Which of the following is an example of the
  scholarship of application
• Book chapter on a pharmacotherapy topic
• Case report on an adverse drug reaction
• Article describing the methodology and results of
  your clinical outcomes research

Boyer EL. Scholarship Reconsidered Priorities
of the Professoriate, The Carnegie Foundation for
the Advancement of Teaching, Princeton, NJ, 1990.



Popovich NG, Abel SR. Am J
Pharm Educ 2002 66 59-65.
19
Scholarship of Teaching

• Pedagogical creativity, innovation, and research
  The process of communicating knowledge in a way
  that enhances student learning and encourages
  lifelong learning
• Teaching becomes scholarship when it is shared
  publicly, open for evaluation, and presented in
  a form from which others can build

• Which of the following is an example of the
  scholarship of teaching
• Review article on a pharmacotherapy topic
• Article describing your innovative teaching
  methodologies
• Article describing the development of a unique
  clinical service

Boyer EL. Scholarship Reconsidered Priorities
of the Professoriate, The Carnegie Foundation for
the Advancement of Teaching, Princeton, NJ, 1990.



Popovich NG, Abel SR. Am
J Pharm Educ 2002 66 59-65.
20
Variable Expectations by Institution

• The emphasis on teaching, service, and
  scholarship (including research) will vary among
  institutions (not just by position type)
• Research-intensive
• emphasis on scholarship of discovery
• Teaching-intensive
• emphasis on teaching/practice scholarship
  definition broad to include integration,
  application, teaching

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The Variability of Expectations of the
Institution Finding a Good Match

• Understanding the degree of emphasis will help
  you best match your abilities, interests, and
  career goals with that of the institution

A BASIC PRINCIPLE BY WHICH TO ABIDE Good match
increased likelihood of success (and
happiness) Bad match decreased likelihood
success (and happiness) assuming success
happiness
NOTE ALL INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION WILL
EXPECT FACULTY TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE SCIENTIFIC
AND/OR PROFESSIONAL BODY OF LITERATURE!
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As you make your way along the path towards a
successful start to your academic career
consider these tips
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Tips for the Trail

• Start by reassuring yourself that youve made a
  sound career choice!
• Dont wait to ask for a copy of the institutions
  Promotion and Tenure guidelines!
• When choosing your first job, think broadly and
  look to the future.
• Know that opportunities for impacting patient
  care and educating students may not always be
  obvious or previously established.
• Go not where the path may lead. Go instead
  where there is no path and leave a trail.
  -Emerson

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Tips for the Trail

• Recognize that you dont know everything there is
  to know today and that you never will but
  continually strive to know more!
• Recognize that youll make mistakes along the
  way. Everybody does!
• Ask for critical evaluation and feedback about
  your teaching, service, and scholarly efforts.
• Collaborate with your colleagues, both within
  your discipline and with other healthcare
  professionals who work outside of your
  discipline.
• Recognize that travelling the pathway to academic
  success is like running a marathon.

Dont think of it as failure think of it as
time-released success. - Robert Orben
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Tips for the Trail

• Find (and be) a good mentor.
• 9. Double- and triple-dip for success in
  scholarship!
• Do your best to BALANCE, and become a little
  comfortable with constant pull.
• I dont know the key to success, but the key to
  failure is trying to please everybody.
  - Bill Cosby

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On the Topic of Balance

• Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling
  some five balls in the air. You name them
• and you are keeping all of these in the air.

HEALTH
FRIENDS
FAMILY
WORK
WORK
SPIRIT
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On the Topic of Balance

• You will soon understand that work is a rubber
  ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But
  the other four balls are made of glass. If you
  drop one of these, they will be irrevocably
  scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even
  shattered.
  They will never be the same.
• You must understand that and strive for balance
  in your life.
• -Anon

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So whats in it for me?
The rewards of being a clinician-educator.1.
As pharmacists, we are first and foremost
educators. Teaching others is what we are
trained to do, and, as pharmacy practice
faculty, we have the opportunity to teach and
lead by example.2. As scholars, we have the
opportunity to continuously learn and grow. 3.
As clinician-educators, there is so much
opportunity for us to give back to our
patients, to our students, to the
profession. We make a living by what we get,
but we make a life by what we give. - Sir
Winston Churchill
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The honest truthThe pathway to Academic
Success is not easily travelled
But the journey can be rewarding and the
destination fulfilling for clinician-educators.
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If you are passionate about teaching and about
contributing to patient care, being a
clinician-educator may very well be the right
path for you.