How are clinician-educators evaluated for educational excellence? A survey of promotion and tenure committee members in the United States.

In recent years, educational leaders have proposed domains of educational excellence and corresponding metrics to objectively measure contributions of clinician-educators for promotion and tenure (P&T). The purpose of this study was to explore whether P&T committees in United States (US) have incorporated these recommendations into practice. The authors conducted a survey of P&T leaders across institutions in US. Items included questions related to institutional tracks for P&T, domains included in promotional packets, metrics for their measurement, and use of an Educator's Portfolio (EP). Respondents from 55 institutions completed the survey. The presence of a teaching academy/society was associated with the presence of a promotion track for clinician-educators ( = 0.04). Only teaching activities (91%), assessment of learners (55%), and educational scholarship (51%) were required by a majority of institutions. Few institutions used objective methods for measuring impact and less than half (47%) required an EP. These results highlight both progress in the recognition of clinician-educators while also suggesting discordance in the perspective of educational leaders and the practice of P&T committees. The authors advocate for establishing a national community of expert medical educators who may assist P&T committees in adopting consensus-based criteria and metrics to evaluate clinician-educators' contributions.