The role of the clinician educator in rheumatology.

In the last 20 years, the clinician educator has become an integral, indispensable part of the academic team. Competition for clinical revenue and increased rigor of mandating physician competency and evidenced-based treatments have created a niche in academia in which the clinician educator can thrive. Academic clinician educators are needed in adult and pediatric rheumatology. A two-tiered system for promotion exists: research and publication are still rewarded faster and acknowledged more than teaching and excellence in clinical care. Clinician educators must be better prepared for teaching, stimulated to create new curricula and methods of evaluation, and provided opportunities to publish their work. Faculty development programs and advanced degrees in education are essential, and promotion criteria must be modified. Clinician educators have a place in academia, but they must continue to thrive as master clinicians, innovators in competency-based teaching methods and evaluation, and contributors to the literature.